Robert, the older brother, and Lon, the younger one, were close as they were growing up in the Queens borough of New York City. However, when their mother passed away and left the bulk of her estate to Robert, Lon was devastated.
Doing some ‘upstream’ planning now will take the guesswork out of what’s coming your way.
When you own or operate a business, ensuring that this plan accounts for the future of the business is critical.
No one enters a relationship — be it personal or business — thinking it will fail. However, what happens when it does?
A common and often costly mistake when it comes to business succession planning is not starting the process early enough.
According to the Exit Planning Institute of Ohio, recent studies show that over 60% of the current U.S. business market is owned by baby boomers (those born between 1946 and 1964), who are ready to exit or transition their business over the next 10 years.
The new, buzzy Netflix documentary on the late, beloved, iconic public broadcasting TV host, painter Bob Ross—“Bob Ross: Happy Accidents, Betrayal and Greed”—documents how the artist’s son, Steve, now 55, was allegedly robbed of his late father’s inheritance by the artist’s business partners.
Small business owners have their hands overflowing with issues, and they devote most of their time to matters related to the smooth running of the business. Having no time to think about other matters, they do not bother about estate planning for them.
What happens at your company when a shareholder dies or becomes disabled, or wants to leave? These are just two of the potential scenarios that can be properly addressed with a buy-sell agreement.
If you do not learn from your mistakes, you are doomed to repeat them. In Estate Planning, if you do not learn from other’s mistakes, you are likely to repeat them.