Succession Planning: Overcoming Procrastination and Creating Confidence If any of these sound like you, then you may be an entrepreneur who is reluctant to plan for the future of your business: (1) Need for control; (2) Strong work ethic; (3) Immortality complex. We have techniques to help business owners overcome their procrastination about succession planning. These include providing assurance on financial security and cash flow, painting realistic exit strategies, and pointing out opportunities for tax savings. Utilizing these and other success strategies can give you greater confidence about the future, for your business and your family. *Intended as general guidance […]
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September 5th is the International Day of Charity and its purpose, at least in part, is to raise awareness for charities all over the world. Helping many folks plan, as we do, how their wealth can most benefit themselves and their families and communities, it seems an appropriate occasion to share a few thoughts on charity from our perspective. Rather than recite all the techniques that help maximize estate, gift and income tax benefits of charitable gifts, it may be more useful to say: If you plan to make a significant gift to charity, whether it is on a one-time […]
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The 40th Annual Estate Planning Conference, held as usual in Kiawah Island, South Carolina, just concluded. Below are three takeaways we believe you’ll find useful in your practice. FLP Entities John W. Porter, an experienced tax litigator with Baker Botts LLP in Houston, Texas spoke on several topics including family limited partnership style entities. There were a number of takeaways but a good summary is still “respect the entity.” Too many families treat these as personal bank accounts rather than business entities and do not get the results they hoped for. If your clients have these LLCs or LPs and […]
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Stewart Law, P.A., a boutique corporate, trusts, and estates firm in Charlotte, North Carolina is proud to announce that Founding Partner, Todd A. Stewart has been recognized as Best Lawyers in America® 2020 in Charlotte, NC. The Best Lawyers in America® program is the oldest and among the most respected attorney ranking services in the world. Todd was selected in the trusts and estates category. Attorneys named to Best Lawyers lists are recognized by their peers in the legal industry for their professional excellence in specific practice areas. To read their recently released press release click here.
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We receive more calls these days from clients who have parents, spouses or other loved ones dealing with temporary and permanent incapacity. In cases where the individual does not have an updated estate plan, these can be challenging. There are court-supervised processes that enable appointed individuals to act on behalf of incapacitated persons. The problems with these proceedings are many. First, the initial part, determining incapacity, can be trying as it is a public process designed to protect the individual who may be incapacitated. Normally multiple attorneys are involved to represent all the parties and interests in the case. In addition, […]
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Divorce is detrimental in a number of emotional and financial ways and court cases continue to add to the list. The key question in a recent case was whether a person’s interest in his ex-spouse’s retirement accounts (e.g., through Qualified Domestic Relations Orders or QDROs) are protected as “retirement funds” under the federal bankruptcy code. This court again decided they are not protected. One message is that even though ERISA plans can provide certain bankruptcy protection for “participants” of retirement plans, this is not necessarily extended to alternate payees, such as beneficiaries who inherit them or ex-spouses. Planning Point: In […]
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