Once Removed Episode 19: The Step-Transaction Doctrine and the Case of Smaldino
Once Removed Episode 18: The Reciprocal Trust Doctrine
Charitable Planning With Guest Stephanie Hood: Navigating Complex Rules and Traps for the Unwary
Once Removed Episode 16: Gift and Estate Tax, Inflation Adjustments for 2024
Once Removed Episode 17: Annual Gifting to Individuals: Options, Opportunities and Pitfalls
Once Removed Episode 12: SLATs and the Case of McKim vs. McKim
Once Removed Episode 11: Spousal Lifetime Access Trusts, or SLATs
Once Removed Episode 10: Trustee Removal and Case Update on Leo Kahn Revocable Trust
(A)ESOP's Fables - The Income and Estate Tax-Free ESOP
The Renoir Spelling Bee
Taking the Sting Out of Death Taxes with Dylan Metzner, Jones & Keller
RETURN TO FOREVER - What Game Shall We Play Today?
To Give or Not to Give: Considerations for Year-End Gifting
INTRODUCING MALTA SPLIT DOLLAR
THE PAPER CHASE
With a Little Help from My Friends
The Greatest Gift: Your Individual + Family Estate Plan
As a family business owner, are you missing out on valuable estate and wealth transfer planning opportunities or jeopardizing your current plan altogether? Katten recently hosted a program that addressed common concerns,...more
Closely-held businesses come in all shapes and sizes. Some owners own 100% of their businesses. Some have partners. Some have children in the business. Some do not. A common question that a client asks the business and...more
Struggling these last several months with the family dynamics and dilemmas of transitioning his family business to the next generation, Big Daddy Ernest Bux, 65, now turns to ordinary, practical considerations. What are...more
Most business owners expect that their company will continue to operate after they stop working. However, successfully transitioning control of a business rarely occurs without thoughtful planning. Consideration must be...more
Who is the Better Planner for Your Affairs: You or the State? Planning for succession of a closely held business is a lot like making a will. An individual has the opportunity to make a will which directs how the...more
In a positive development for closely-held business owners and their families, the Treasury Department recently recommended the complete withdrawal of its proposed tax regulations that would have severely limited the...more
President Trump promised and will pursue tax reform, but Congress must agree to any proposal. For the most part, a majority vote in both houses would allow tax reform for about a decade, and at least sixty Senate votes would...more
Despite recent trends toward consolidation in the agricultural industry, farming generally remains a family affair. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, 97 percent of all farms in the United States are...more
In an always-anticipated annual tradition, Ronald Aucutt, a McGuireWoods partner and co-chair of the firm’s private wealth services group, has identified the following as the top ten estate planning and estate tax...more
INTRODUCTION - As discussed in Part One of this article, statistics show that most family-owned businesses fail after a generation or two. Specifically, only 30% of family-owned businesses survive the transition from...more
Among the growing number of business owners looking to sell their business, JR and Sue Ellen Pawlenty are in the market to sell their company Pawlenty Energy. Recently Tilting the Scales highlighted Successfully Selling Your...more
INTRODUCTION - There are over five million family owned businesses operating in the United States.1 The Small Business Administration has indicated that over 90% of all businesses operating in North America are family...more
For family business owners who desire to transfer ownership of part of their business to the next generation, the valuation of the business interest is often an important factor to consider. This is especially true for family...more
Partnerships and LLCs are common choices of entity for family-owned businesses, due to their flexibility and the many uses to which they can be put – including pooling of family assets, succession planning, asset protection,...more
After years of anticipation, the U.S. IRS recently issued Proposed Treasury Regulations that would, if enacted in their current form, substantially eliminate most valuation discounts for family-controlled entities and result...more
It's August of an election---year, and not just any election---year, a presidential election year. So, in less than 80 days, we'll all go to the polls and elect a new president. While Benjamin Franklin might have been right...more
The ability to use transfer and liquidation restrictions in legal documents to reduce the value of an interest in a family-controlled (or “closely-held”) business entity (e.g., partnership, corporation, limited liability...more
Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of the Treasury unveiled its long-awaited proposed regulations targeting valuation discounts commonly used in estate planning, thereby overturning decades of settled law. As drafted,...more
On August 2, 2016, the Internal Revenue Service proposed regulations that would severely limit valuation discounts for lack of marketability and lack of control that taxpayers have historically applied for federal gift,...more
Business Owners May Have Little Time to Act Before Rules Are Finalized - The valuation of a family member's interest in a family business has a major impact on the success or failure of a transfer of such interest to...more
The proposed regulations disregard restrictions that have been used by valuation experts and acknowledged by the courts to reduce valuations. If you are an owner of a closely held entity, recently proposed Treasury...more
On August 2, 2016, the Treasury Department released proposed regulations amending and expanding upon the current regulations to Internal Revenue Code Section 2704. The proposed regulations, if adopted, would affect the...more
Historically, the IRS has closely scrutinized transfers of interests in family-owned entities between family members. In particular, it has sought to curtail the use of discounts to decrease the estate and gift tax value of...more
The federal government proposed sweeping new tax rules earlier this month that would dramatically affect family businesses, investment partnerships and other entities. These rules, which have been widely reported, would...more
The Department of the Treasury wants to place limitations on valuation discounts that are currently commonly used to reduce asset values in family-owned and closely-held businesses, in an effort to increase tax revenue. The...more