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Wealth transfer planning is a complex process with an ever-changing set of risks, opportunities, and regulations. Subtle changes to wealth transfer techniques—including applying commonly used risk management and sophisticated planning strategies—can dramatically increase the likelihood of success and enhance financial results.

Whether public or private, successful businesses share some of the same concerns. Attracting and retaining talent, balancing growth and risk with profitability and adapting to economic changes are all essential. But the owners of private businesses face unique challenges, particularly when they decide to make changes in the ownership or management of the business.

Successfully transferring wealth to your heirs is a challenging but priceless undertaking. It is the result of careful, thoughtful planning and should not be taken lightly. The following article discusses some of the more important things to consider while making these valuable decisions.

Succession planning’s goal is to provide the least amount of disruption to your business and to give you the widest possible choice of qualified candidates before you make that decision. While the process may consider candidates from outside the family and the company, in many cases it focuses on managers who are already with the company. This publication discusses the board’s role in succession planning, which includes:

No one is comfortable discussing the day of their funeral, but taking control of that inevitable conversation and organizing a principal’s final wishes is simply the right thing to do for their family, their legacy and their enterprise. Making arrangements after the loss or, preferably, preparing an end-of-life plan in advance, involves some of the more challenging personal choices one will ever make.

The American Tax Payer Relief Act of 2012 (ATRA) was passed on New Year’s Day 2013, and established the first permanentset of estate, gift and generation skipping transfer (GST) tax provisions in 12 years. Each year, the administration puts forth tax proposals that may change the current law. This article provides a quick summary of several of the latest revenue proposals submitted by the Obama administration that might affect individual taxpayers and future estate and tax planning strategies.

Boards can assist with some of the particularly challenging issues family companies face. There are several different factors that should be considered as a board is created or renewed. While each family company’s situation is unique and every scenario cannot be addressed, the goal is to provide a framework of how corporate governance practices apply to family companies.

This Family Business Corporate Governance Series "What is a Board's Role in a Family Business?" explains how to build an effective board for your family company, and how boards can assist with some of the particularly challenging issues family companies face.

Pitcairn and The Corporate Greenhouse have co-written a case study that validates why talent planning and business planning are equally important and interdependent. The case study discusses how Pitcairn’s CEO is transforming a 90-year-old family business into a high-performing multi‑family office with increased profitability, streamlined processes, and happier employees.