Selecting one’s home state as the situs may be a convenient or easy answer. However, the ability to implement a trust that may last forever, eliminate additional transfer taxes after funding and avoid state income taxes may provide the financial incentive to stray from home, or at least to consider it.
Planning discussions about wishes are often reduced to how wealth should be distributed or utilized when the principal dies. However, wealthy individuals may be better served by a much broader discussion of how to build a family legacy that generates social and economic wealth, creates family unity and transcends time.
Preserving and managing tangible wealth in a complex and uncertain world can be a challenge. However, the greatest challenge individuals and their families might face is defining, reflecting on and expressing what their wealth really means.
It has always been the case that courts could consider resources available to one spouse from a trust in deciding how to divide marital property or whether to award maintenance. However, there are trends in several states to make trusts a larger part of the process of dividing assets in a divorce. Because of these trends, it is not necessarily enough just to have a trust. The type of trust can make a difference.
Case management, a new concept in the addiction and behavioral health field, can significantly increase the likelihood of sustained recovery for individuals who suffer from chronic diseases such as alcoholism, drug dependence, depression and other addictive and behavioral disorders.
Giving forethought to difficult circumstances can provide important clarity that helps companies avoid worst-case scenarios. Owners can begin by being as objective as possible, treating shares and structure with respect and thinking of the next generation.
In examining the process of transitioning the ownership and management of a family business, this paper discusses pre-transition planning, considers the challenges of intergenerational ownership transfers vs. third-party sales, and proposes a framework for meeting family and business goals through the process.
Thoughtful planning before the sale of a business can yield many benefits to its owner, including ensuring the owner’s family is financially protected if something unexpected happens to the owner or the business before a sale, reducing potential family conflicts that may arise as a result of a potential sale and minimizing the impact of future gift and estate taxes.
Bruce Golden of Accel Partners has been recognized as one of the top 100 venture capitalists in Forbes’ Midas List of tech investors. He also sits on the boards of several public and private companies. In a recent interview, he shared his perspective as both a board member and investor, and explained how communication and measurement are the keys to good private company governance.
As a result of the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the private family trust company (PFTC) has becomie a very popular vehicle to provide not only Family Office SEC exemption but also trust administration to the ultra wealthy inter-generationally and several additional tax and non-tax advantages.