Estate Planning and Special Considerations for Business Owners

Business owners face unique considerations while Planning their Estate. Hooper Law Office Attorney Justin Randall appeared on Local 5 Live to discuss what business owners need to know before they start planning.

Lisa Malak: In planning for business owners, there are some special consideration.

Millaine Wells: Attorney Justin Randall is here from Hooper Law Office to start the conversation. Good morning to you.

Justin Randall: Good morning.

Millaine Wells: So how is Estate Planning different for business owners compared to maybe regular jobs?

Justin Randall: Yeah. So, I mean, just like those regular Joes, they still have to have that Estate Plan. But there's also a lot more involved in getting that set up. They not only have to worry about their own personal assets and their family members, but also their, you know, whether they want to continue that business after something's happened to them. If it's unexpected or, you know, just at the end of their life, do they want it continued on to the next generation? Do they have someone in place to take over for them? So there are a lot more questions involved in that than there would be for someone without a business.

Lisa Malak: What about timing on this? Do business owners need to start maybe a little bit earlier? I know you say everyone should start early, but are there special considerations there?

Justin Randall: It's never too late to start, but yeah, absolutely. They really should start the moment they're there, starting that business. I mean, we talk about planning for the expected and the unexpected. Disability is not something that most people expect, whether it's a health event or, you know, a physical disability that they have. So it's really important to have a plan in place for what happens if something like that comes up.

Millaine Wells: Let's talk about what could happen if there isn't a plan in place.

Justin Randall: So what often happens, for example, if someone's disabled with, you know, an unexpected event, they don't have that key person in place to take over for them, continue operation. They don't have any plan in place if they need to be bought out of that business because they can't continue on. If they pass away, it can create a lot of disputes between other owners if the family wants to stay involved. But those other owners maybe don't want to own it with someone's spouse or their kids. Right? So it's really, really important to have those discussions with all the owners and with the family members too.