Estate planning is critical for business owners
On behalf of Kadish & Associates Law Group posted in Estate Planning For Business Owners on Friday, June 23, 2017.
Estate planning is important for most people, including those who own businesses. Correspondingly, Phoenix, Arizona, estate planning lawyers for business owners are in high demand as people who own businesses plan for the future. It is always a good idea to get estate planning rolling as soon as possible.
After all, when you own a business, much of your current wealth is undoubtedly wrapped up in the business. Your family’s future depends on having clear and legal plans for the business established. Otherwise, your family might get taken advantage of. If that happens, their income and well-being can suffer drastically. In contrast, good estate planning can ensure your family’s prosperity for years.
One thing that you will want to do is decide if your business management philosophy is marketable, owner-dependent or multi-generational. The nature of your business management philosophy has a profound impact on your estate planning.
For example, if your business is owner-dependent, it won’t survive you. For that reason, you will want to take profits from the business as current income to live on and invest, and as retirement savings, instead of putting those profits back into the business. That way your heirs will have access to cash and investments that will help to take care of them after you are gone.
However, you may look at your business management philosophy and realize that it is multi-generational, and can successfully be kept going by family members, or individuals acting on behalf of family members, after the original owner’s passing. Alternatively, the business may be highly marketable, and family members might want to sell it for money in the bank.
If so, you’ll want to approach estate planning differently than you would if you had an owner-dependent business. In any case, sitting down with estate planning lawyers in Phoenix, Arizona, and going over the details of your business will help to maximize the value that it can generate for your heirs.
Source: Entrepreneur, “Estate Planning for an Owner-Dependent Business,” W. Rod Stern, accessed June 23, 2017