Succession Planning

As counselors to many family-owned businesses, we provide advice on estate and gift tax planning, growth strategies, income tax planning, and dispute resolution, and assist in planning succession among owners. We are skilled at working with different generations in family-owned businesses, balancing their diverse goals and needs to arrive at solutions that are right for each family and business. Many of our clients’ estate plans are very important to the successful operations of their businesses. Working in close cooperation with our clients, and using sophisticated planning techniques and financial models, we analyze their assets and determine the most appropriate business and estate plan to meet their goals. We utilize current techniques such as recaps, creating voting and non-voting stock, family limited liability companies and family limited partnerships, installment sales, non-qualified deferred compensation, and irrevocable life insurance trusts. We recognize that only certain estate planning tools may be appropriate and always seek those that meet a client’s particular goals. We work with clients in addressing their concerns over equality and fairness among their children, while recognizing that some children may be more active than others in the management of the business.

• Wildman Harrold assisted a family in restructuring a manufacturing business to allow the children of several siblings to succeed to their parents’ interests in the business with minimal tax consequences and to begin the process of taking over the management of the various product lines.
  
• Wildman Harrold assisted a client in creating a substantial oil and gas venture and transferring interests in that venture to trusts, particularly mindful of tax efficiency.