Estate Planning for the Business Owner

Having the right planning in place is essential for business owners…who will keep the business running if you can’t?  What if you’re incapacitated?  Who will keep its value high for sale?  How can you ensure your family gets the best possible price for the business, or keep family involved?  How can you be sure you keep the best tax treatment, and keep estate taxes low?  How can you find time to get away from the business and keep it running?

There are a lot of questions to answer, and the answers are different for everybody, and every business.  Things like trust planning, choice of business entity, asset protection and buy-sell agreements are important, especially if you haven’t done them yet.  If you have, are they outdated?  Sophisticated planning with life insurance, irrevocable life insurance trusts (ILITs) and grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs) may be helpful too.

For attorneys advising their business clients, I’ll be presenting a continuing education class with my longtime friend and fellow lawyer Mario Jaramillo, who also has extensive experience in not only advising business clients but owning businesses as well.  The program is through MyLawCLE, in Pasadena on June 5, 2013–email them or call (877) 406-8636 for more information.