Business and Succession Planning
We counsel business owners on all areas of tax and estate planning including those with significant and unique business assets. If you are the owner of a business, it is especially important for you to establish a business succession plan to ensure the future success of your business after your departure from the business or your death. Succession planning seeks to develop a smooth transition between you and the future owners of your business.
The business succession planning lawyers and staff at the law office of Altman & Associates are committed to assisting you throughout the process of structuring your estate and business succession planning. Our practice focuses on the four most important issues within business succession planning: Management; Ownership; Taxation; and Financial Security.
Specific services include planning for the management succession and asset conservation through multiple generation at a minimum tax cost.
Assisting business owners in allocating the benefits among children regardless of their involvement in the business.
Structuring life insurance and benefit programs to minimize tax costs and provide for liquidity in the event of death.
We understand the level of stress that may accompany this type of estate planning. With family businesses, succession planning can be especially complicated because of the relationships and emotions involved. Our business succession planning lawyers and staff are extremely sensitive to your individual situation and are able to effectively tailor the representation we provide to meet your specific needs.
Succession planning involves answering “Yes” to the following seven questions:
- Do you know your exact retirement goals and what it will take—in cash—to reach them?
- Do you know how much your business is worth today, in cash?
- Do you know the best way to maximize the income stream generated by your ownership interest?
- Do you know how to sell your business to a third party and pay the least possible taxes?
- Do you know how to transfer your business to family members, co-owners, or employees, while paying the least possible taxes and enjoying maximum financial security?
- Do you have a continuity plan for your business if the unexpected happens to you?
- Do you have a plan to secure financial independence for your family if the unexpected happens to you?
How a business answers these questions will determine how successful their plan will be. Taking clients through a seven-step process, the Altman & Associates Law Office works with clients and their team of advisors to create and implement a business succession strategy. This strategy will maximize the value of the business and minimize taxes, while securing the financial future for the business owner and their family.
