April 14, 2016

If you spent the last couple of decades of your life working to build your business from zero to a profitable venture, you might not realize that the government could levy an estate tax or death tax on your business and reduce your company’s value by as much as 50%.
If family members, former spouses, and co-owners come out of the woodwork when you pass away suddenly, your business could be back to the zero level in less than one year after you pass away. Fortunately, taking care to plan your estate properly can help to minimize the challenges associated with this. Powers of attorney, trusts, wills and estate planning are some of the most common legal tools used by business owners thinking ahead to avoid the negative implications of unfortunate events.
One of the primary reasons that estate planning can be so beneficial for your business is that it gives you more options. A buy-sell agreement, for example, can help to ensure that when any owner passes away then the deceased individual’s interests are automatically purchased by other owners or beneficiaries of the deceased owner. This helps to avoid the chaos that might otherwise ensue after an untimely demise of a business owner.