As a business owner, you have likely considered establishing an estate plan to ensure your company’s continued success after your passing. However, comprehensive estate planning also addresses what will happen if you become mentally incapacitated (unable to manage your affairs) due to illness, injury, or cognitive decline, or if you need to...
Category: Business Succession
How Are My Business Documents Relevant to My Estate Plan?
Studies consistently find that only about 25–35 percent of Americans have an estate plan, a shockingly low rate when you consider that, in the absence of a plan, the state—not you or your family—decides what happens to your assets, including your business interests.
The overall business succession planning rate...
Intrafamily Loans and How They Work
An intrafamily loan is a financial arrangement between family members—one who is lending and another who is borrowing. An intrafamily loan may be used to help a family member who needs money for a number of reasons:
buying a home funding or purchasing shares...Passing the Torch: Smart Business Succession Strategies
For many business owners, their business is one of the most valuable and important things they own. When it is time to sit down and create an estate plan, it is critical that business owners plan for their business just as they would plan for their home or finances. Effective business succession...
Can Artificial Intelligence Programs Write Basic Estate Planning Documents?
With the increased coverage of artificial intelligence (AI) and all of the applications it can have in our everyday lives, some people may wonder whether an AI program can create an estate plan for them. While AI may be able to generate basic estate planning documents, including wills and trusts, there is...
Pros and Cons of a Family Limited Partnership
Owning your own business or investment portfolio can be incredibly rewarding. However, to preserve the fruits of your labor and dedication, you must do everything you can to protect it. Whether you seek to protect yourself, your investments, and your family from taxes, creditors, or probate, a family limited partnership (FLP) is...
Can a Trust Own My Business after I Die?
In general, the answer to the title question is yes, your trust can own your business after you die. However, there are a number of considerations that may impact the answer to this and the following questions. One consideration is the type of business interest you own. Is your business a limited...
Preserving Your Farming Legacy
Farming has been the cornerstone of our country for hundreds of years. Although the percentage of the population engaged in farming has decreased dramatically since our country’s founding, there are still two million farms operating over 900 million acres of land in the United States[1], 98% of which are family farms
Kids and Investors Are Not the Only Options
Retiring from your business can a tough decision. To ensure that what you have built continues on, there needs to be a plan for succession. For some people, they have spent years grooming a child or other family member to take over, wanting the business to stay in the...
Retirement Planning for Business Owners
For many employees, saving for retirement is usually a matter of simply participating in their employer’s 401(k) plan and perhaps opening an IRA for some extra savings.
But, when you’re the owner of a business, planning for retirement requires pro-activity and...