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Running a successful family business can be incredibly rewarding, but it also requires an extraordinary amount of hard work, sacrifice, and careful planning. One of the most difficult decisions any family business owner will eventually need to make is how to handle the business once they’re gone. Family business succession planning is a difficult aspect of running a business because it forces business owners to think objectively about the future but without any real context. The 2016 PWC U.S. Family Business Survey revealed that succession planning is a common pain point for family business owners across the United States. The issues most family business owners have with this concept is lack of planning. While about 70% of all family business owners report that they expect their businesses to pass down to the next generations of their families, only 23% have a detailed and actionable plan for ensuring this succession occurs. [...]

You’ve worked hard for your money and property over your lifetime, and you want to be sure it’s in good hands after your death. To guarantee this, you may want to create a living trust or a will—or both. Learn more about the differences and how to choose below. WHAT IS A LIVING TRUST? In short, a trust is a legal document that lists exactly what you want done with your property when you die or become incapacitated. A living trust is a trust that can be set up at any time, changed at any time, and revoked at any time (which is why it’s also known as a revocable trust). A living trust will include the name of a trustee, who is the person responsible for managing any property in the trust. WHAT IS A WILL? A last will and testament, or a will, is a legal document that lists [...]

THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN BUSINESS PLANNING AND CORPORATE PLANNING Both business planning and corporate planning involve defining goals for your business and creating plans to support those goals. While they may seem similar at first, each one is used for a specific purpose. It can help to think of business planning as the “what” of your business goals, while corporate planning is the “how”. Learn more about the purpose of each one below. Business Planning: The “What” Business planning is the “what” of your business. Your business plan should answer questions about what your business is now and where you see it going in the future. Business planning involves creating preliminary documents, goals, and plans for your business. This may be necessary when you first have the idea for a business or when you’re changing or adding something to the core of your business. Before you can start getting into the [...]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR LAST WILL & TESTAMENT Preparing a will is an essential part of estate planning. Whether you’re young and healthy or your life expectancy is much shorter, you should have a plan for the end of your life. Before you start drafting a will, however, it’s important to understand a few legal matters regarding trust and estate law. Here are 6 important things you need to know about preparing a will. 1. What is a will? A will (or “last will and testament”) is a legal document that contains your wishes for your property after your death. It should detail the distribution of your property and assets, as well as your wishes for the care of any minor children. After your death, the court and/or your chosen executor will read your will and ensure that your final wishes are carried out. 2. What happens [...]