Estate Planning Tips for Business Owners
Most business owners are drowned daily in the sea of marketing their products or services, reaching out to customers, recruiting staff, paying taxes, and what not. So much do these bustling activities keep them busy that they do not find the time to ask themselves the question, “what if something happens to me suddenly, what would happen to my business? Who would take care of it, and how would my family benefit from my business when I die?” Even the majority of those who find themselves asking such question do not find enough time to make an estate plan to address these questions, neither do they see the need to update the estate plan from time to time when the need arises.
Estate planning for your business is highly important. Agreed, estate planning is enough headache in itself, talk more of adding it to your daily busy schedule, and this is why you need the help of financial and legal professionals to do it for you. Estate planning attorneys near you are ever ready to provide you legal advice and assistance in creating an effective estate plan that protects your business, ensures it is left in competent hands should something bad ever happen to you, gives you tax efficiency, and ensures that things go smoothly for your family should you become incapaciteted or deceased.
Estate planning for your business in 6 steps
1. Make use of the basic estate planning tools
The first step in your business estate plan is deciding what you want for your business in the event of your death or sudden disability. There are three basic estate planning tools which you can use to this effect which are:
- A Will in which you lay down your terms on how your business assets should be distributed at your death
- A Power of Attorney with which you appoint someone who would handle your finances during incapacitation
- A Living Will on which you appoint a person to take medical decisions on your behalf.
The estate planning attorney will offer you professional advice on how all these could be planned out to your best interest, and a good lawyer knows when to use a trust.
2. Tax planning
A core part of estate planning is planning for tax reduction. Federal and state laws place a huge tax on your estate before they can be passed down to your heirs. Inheritance tax is also often paid by heirs from their own pocket before they can inherit property. The good news is the estate attorney will enlighten you on several ways by which you can reduce these taxes or even completely exempt your estate from taxes.
3. Planning against family issues that may arise in family businesses
One child may desire to inherit your company while the other doesn’t. Regardless of this, you have to create an estate plan that treats your surviving children fairly to avoid unnecessary family feuds when you’re gone. Also remember that when you bequeath your business to a spouse and he or she later remarries, the spouse would have legal entitlement in your family business. To avoid handling over your family business to a total stranger, the estate planning lawyer will discuss several tactics to ensure the business is always kept within the family after you’re gone.
4. Life and disability insurance
This is a must have for all business owners. With a life insurance policy, rest assured that your designated beneficiary would have a stable source of income after your death, plus your business would be guaranteed of steady funding to keep it running after you’re gone. A disability insurance provides the same benefits should you become disabled.
5. Create a succession plan
This is important for every business. While you go about running your business daily, you have to sit down and consider who should succeed you at your death or permanent disability. A succession plan involves planning who takes over ownership of your business, your business’s organizational structure and management when you’re gone. Your succession plan should be carefully thought out and should conform with your Will to avoid costly discrepancies.
6. Always remember to update your estate plan when necessary
A lot of things may change after creating your estate plan; things which may warrant relative changes to your estate plan. Your business might take a new shape or ownership type, tax laws may change, divorce papers may be served, your minors may become adults, and as bad as it is to think about, a designated beneficiary may even pass away. All these require you making due changes to your estate plan, and it is important to get an estate planning professional who understands your needs and can help update your estate plan so that it ultimately achieves your goal no matter what changes have occurred.
Estate Planning Attorney near me 10018
So are you now asking yourself, “how can I get an estate planning attorney near me 10018?” Worry no more, the best estate planning attorney 10018 is just a phone call away. We serve our clients with the best customized services, listening to your problems and coming up with solutions tailor-made for your specific business goals. Hurry now and contact us today.