Everyone needs to take the time to create a will and consider their other estate planning objectives, but small business owners have an even greater vested interest in estate planning than most. Considering the time, energy, and passion that you have put into running your business, it is only natural that you have concerns about what might happen to it in the future when you are no longer around. The attorneys at Strategic Counsel Law Group, L.C. assists business owners with creating buy-sell agreements, tax reduction strategies, and everything else pertinent to estate planning specific to business owners such as yourself.
Avoid Excessive Taxation
By using Section 303 and 6166 within the IRS tax code, small business owners can avoid over taxation and losing out on hundreds of thousands of dollars that would otherwise go to their loved ones.
Buy-Sell Agreements
A buy-sell agreement establishes a price for a future buyout between partners and shareholders in the event the business owner become incapacitated or passes away. This legal tool enables you to block certain parties from having a role in your business, can direct your heirs to sell your share of the business, and establishes whether or not you want your partners to buy out your share.
Life Insurance
In order for a buyout to be successful, business partners need to have the necessary capital available if one of the owners passes away. If each business partner takes out a life insurance policy and names the other owners as beneficiaries, they are able to use this capital (tax free) to purchase the deceased partner’s share of the business.
Sole Proprietors
In some ways, handling a business owned by a sole proprietor is more simple than if it is owned by multiple parties. However, in this scenario the future of the business is much less secure. If you are the sole owner of your business, an attorney can help you come up with a solid plan of action should anything happen to you in the future, and help establish ownership when you are gone.
Passing Down the Business to Heirs
As a business owner, your business may be your largest asset. More than that, your business means something to you that has nothing to do with money. As such, many small business owners relish the idea of passing down their business to a child, grandchild, or other heir(s). We can help you create the legal documentation necessary to make this happen, as well as establish more complicated aspects of passing on your business, such as determining how the business gets divided between heirs if there are multiple parties interested in taking it over.
Call a Lawyer With Experience in Estate Planning for Business Owners
Whether your goal is minimize taxation, avoid complications with passing on your business to your heirs, or ensure that your family is financially taken care of via a buy-sell agreement, our estate planning for business owners attorney can help. Contact Strategic Counsel Law Group, L.C. today at 813-286-1700 to schedule a free consultation.
