October 14, 2021

Creating an estate plan requires a holistic view of what you intend to accomplish and will require your consideration and thought. It is usually best done with the help of an experienced estate planning lawyer when you start the process.

One of the first things you will do is to create an overview or a list of all of your assets. You might find that an asset inside your estate are your shares of stock and there are a couple of different ways that you can handle this as part of your estate planning strategy. Your lawyer will sit down with you to discuss which of these makes the most sense. One option is to create a trust to hold the shares of stocks. Extra caution must be taken before transferring any title to a trust if the company in question is an S corporation.

The S selection could accidentally be destroyed in this process with invalid planning which could have significant tax consequences for the company. It is vital to get guidance from a knowledgeable attorney before creating any estate plan that has S corporation stock inside of it. There are benefits, however, to using a trust for the purposes of stock estate planning. The biggest is that ownership will transfer efficiently and smoothly after you pass away without requiring the oversight of the probate court. This is why you’ll want to discuss all of the options with your estate planning strategy with the help of an experienced attorney. You will be able to cover all of your bases and have a better perspective on what to expect.