I met with a new client in his early 50s about 2 years ago – one who had started a successful company and done some basic estate planning years ago. He and his wife were ready to tackle some deeper estate planning topics – updating their old documents, considering business transition, and how their now-adult children would factor into the plan. After an introductory meeting with the couple, they took a scheduled trip abroad, and he suffered from a sudden medical condition which put him in hospital overseas. He tragically died there one week later. For the last 2 years, I have helped his widow navigate the most difficult things, like running the business while also locating and then selling to an outside buyer at half the value estimated while her husband had been living.

As an estate planning attorney, I tell stories like this not to scare people, but to highlight what my career reminds me of every day – there is absolute uncertainty that we all live with, whether we admit it or not.

Another client could be considered a titan of a local industry, having successfully built an operation that has expanded well beyond where he began. While we talked about his accomplishments, easily identifiable in things like cash flow and employee retention, he could not help but focus on his perceived failings, regrets, and worries about the future. You see, from an outside perspective, he has succeeded beyond measure; however, now in his 80s, his reflection on what it all says about him and what he will leave behind for his family is still unclear.

How often do you think about the intersection between the business you have built and your legacy after you are gone? Do you worry about the ability of your family and heirs to continue running the business, successfully exit the business, or extract the value from it you have worked hard to create? Or maybe, like many entrepreneurs, your focus has been on starting, managing, and growing it, making it hard to pause and consider the “bigger picture”?

As we start a new year, make it a priority to pause.

“Estate planning” is often treated like a “once and done” endeavor. Maybe someone told you to do it somewhere along the way, so you signed the essential documents and felt you had checked this off your list. But estate planning is dynamic and encompasses much more than words written on crisp (or now fading) paper.

Join us as we consider the following levels of estate planning for business owners:

Fundamental Estate Planning

• Revisiting the essentials and how often to update your estate plan
• Specific inclusion of instructions for the business upon your death

“Next Level” Estate Planning

• The value of – and biggest mistakes made – with revocable trusts
• Buy-sell agreements and how they interact with your estate documents
• Communication of the plan to key stakeholders

Legacy Estate Planning

• Effective use of irrevocable trusts and lifetime gifting
• Pre-sale planning techniques
• Tax minimization

Regardless of which “level” you have achieved, this presentation will be a chance to hear insights from an estate attorney helping one client at a time work towards a lasting legacy.