Can Estate Planning Protect My Business After I’m Gone?

As a business owner, your worries concerning your business may never stop. And these anxieties may go as far as what hands your business will be left in after you are gone. Well, you may rest easier knowing you can put these concerns to bed through a comprehensive estate plan. Continue reading to learn how estate planning can work to protect your business and how one of the experienced Butler County estate planning & probate attorneys at Heritage Elder Law & Estate Planning, LLC can help you establish a plan.

What are the benefits of creating an estate plan for my business?

You may know how your estate plan can work to ensure that your personal wishes are fulfilled. But you must also understand the added benefits that it can provide for your business. They read as follows:

• Your estate plan may work to ensure that you preserve your legacy by appointing a desired successor for the ownership and control over your business.
• Your estate plan may work to ensure that the distribution of your business affairs is kept confidential and bypass public probate proceedings.
• Your estate plan may work to ensure that your loved ones are not blindsided by the burden of any significant business debts that you leave behind.
• Your estate plan may work to ensure that your loved ones benefit from minimized tax liabilities with the business that you leave behind.

In what ways can estate planning protect my business after I am gone?

To reiterate, the same estate planning tools that you may use to fulfill your personal wishes may be used to fulfill your business wishes. For example, you may use your will to disclose which loved one is to receive your business and its associated assets after you are gone. In addition, you may use your living trust to enable your business to continue running without having to go through probate. This is not even to mention the capabilities of a business succession plan, which is best if your business continually grows in size and complexity.

What’s more, even before you pass on, established powers of attorney may enable your trusted loved one to make business decisions on your behalf; this is along with handling its finances or signing its paperwork. Namely, this allows your business to seamlessly operate if you become, unfortunately, incapacitated and cannot handle these responsibilities on your own. Also in a case where you become incapacitated, a buy-sell agreement may let a co-owner buy out your interest in the business without much hassle.

As you may likely conclude yourself, there are many options at your disposal. The specific estate planning tools you proceed with may depend on your specific business goals, family dynamics, and other external factors. So when it comes to your business estate plan, there is no question that the skilled Butler County estate planning attorneys are the best fit for you. Please contact Heritage Elder Law & Estate Planning, LLC at your earliest possible convenience.