For family business owners creating an estate plan should be a top priority. The family business is often one of the largest assets of the estate. Without proper planning, substantial tax and legal issues can arise at the time of the business owner’s passing. An experienced Orange County trust lawyer can help you consider the potential hazards of transitioning a family business to a new owner, while also carefully crafting an estate plan that achieves your legacy goals.
As a business owner, your first step in creating an estate plan in Orange County should be to contact an attorney. Once you have found the right Orange County trust lawyer for your family, consider the following helpful tips:
- Consider your overall goals and objectives for the family business.
- Determine whether you wish to maintain family involvement in the business after you pass.
- Consider your personal retirement needs and goals.
- Consider how you would like to involve family members in the decision-making process of the business.
- Determine what method should be used to resolve disputes.
- Identify the specific individuals whom you want to be the successor owners and operators of the business.
- Consider what additional support will be needed for the successor business owners and operators.
- Assess the tax implications that will be triggered by the transfer of the business interest.
- Consider creating a buy-sell agreement.
- Determine whether you want the business interest to be purchased, gifted, or some combination of both.
Each of the above tips will help ensure that you create an estate plan in Orange County that accomplishes your goals in the most efficient manner possible.
Family business owners creating an estate plan for handling the transfer of the business. View here for more from an Orange County trust attorney. To learn more about how a living trust might benefit your estate plan, view our free guide, Understanding the Revocable Living Trust – In Language that Anyone Can Understand in 8 Minutes. For more information about creating your estate plan and planning for your family business, contact the Orange County trust attorneys at the Law Office of James F. Roberts & Associates, APC, today. Call our office at (714) 282-7488 for a consultation.