The use of a commercial lease to rip off minority owners in a closely held business
The Informed Board Podcast | CEO Succession Planning on a Clear Day
Succession Planning to Safeguard Your Law Firm’s Future: On Record PR
Law Brief ®: Alan Gaynor and Richard Schoenstein Explore Business Divorce
Episode 8: Minority Oppression in the LLC: Interview With Professor Douglas Moll
A proposed California ballot initiative – “The 2026 Billionaire Tax Act” (also known as Initiative 25-0024) – has been getting a lot of attention, and it could have implications for business valuations, capital structures and...more
As we begin 2026, we find ourselves right in the middle of “Peak 65,” the period of time between 2024 and 2027 when approximately 4.1 million Americans will turn 65 each year....more
It is your first meeting with a divorce attorney. Towards the end of the meeting, the attorney recommends that you hire a financial expert to conduct an analysis that could help resolve your case. You like the idea of hiring...more
In high-net-worth (“HNW”), what you own is rarely the real battle, it’s what those assets are truly worth. HNW divorces bring unique financial and legal challenges that go far beyond traditional marital estate division....more
Closely held businesses routinely use life insurance to fund buy-sell obligations when an owner dies. The logic is simple: the company or surviving owners need liquidity to effect redemptions or repurchases, and life...more
In valuation disputes, the Discount for Lack of Marketability rarely behaves. Courts disagree about it, lawyers and experts litigate it to exhaustion, and business divorce cases often see seven-figure swings based on the...more
Balancing numbers and relationships when business and family intersect. Family-owned businesses occupy a unique and vital space in the economy. They combine entrepreneurial drive with deep personal commitment and long-term...more
Many transportation and logistics (T&L) companies are family-owned or closely held businesses that often bear their founder’s name. Some have been passed down through two or more generations of family ownership. But there...more
Earnouts are a form of contingent consideration that the buyer of a business pays to the seller in the period following the acquisition, based on the business achieving various financial metrics related to its performance...more
On June 6, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in Connelly v. United States affecting the valuation of closely held businesses for estate tax purposes. The Court explained that, for purposes of federal...more
Many co-owners of closely held businesses will employ life insurance as a tool for funding the transfer of ownership in the business upon the death or retirement of an owner. In these cases, planning involves the use of...more
In a recent video, Jeff Faulkner, co-founder of the International Succession Planning Association, spoke about the importance of succession planning for business owners. Faulkner emphasized that succession planning is not...more
Jeff Faulkner, co-founder of the International Succession Planning Association, speaks about the challenges that arise when transferring ownership of a business to the next generation. In the video, he points out the...more
As part of the comprehensive “SECURE 2.0” retirement plan legislation enacted in December 2022, Congress directed the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to issue a long delayed and much needed regulation defining the term...more
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
Over the past three seasons, fans of the hit HBO series Succession have had an entrée into the fabulous lifestyles enjoyed by members of the Roy family and a front-row seat from which to observe the myriad succession...more
For more than twenty years, the case of Brown v. Brown, decided by the Appellate Division in 2002, essentially changed the standard of value in divorce cases from fair market value to fair value or fair market value without...more
Counting the Days?- We are 302 days away from the national mid-term elections, to be held November 8, 2022, yet the first full week of the new year has already highlighted some of the economic issues with which the...more
Here are five things to remember when performing the valuation of shares of a closely held entity for gift and estate tax reporting...more
In any appraisal, whether conducted as a result of a breach of fiduciary duty or oppression, the date of valuation has to be established. In fact, after establishing the definition of "fair value" to apply, the determination...more
Over the years, we’ve written a lot about limited partnership, corporation, and LLC “fair value” appraisal proceedings....more
I’m very pleased to present my 11th annual list of this past year’s ten most significant business divorce cases. This year’s list includes four important appellate decisions, including one likely to stand as a landmark...more
Finishing a best-year-ever 2018 and being questioned daily by his second wife Anna Nicole about making her children officers and owners of the family business Buxboro State Bank, Big Daddy Ernest Bux concludes, at 65 years...more
You’ve built a great business. You want to do the smart work of planning for an orderly succession and transition to the next generation of leaders and owners. You’ve planned well and have financial flexibility. Some...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