Category Archives: Estate Planning

Will the Circle Be Unbroken? Managing a Family Business Disaster

Estate Planning, Ownership Transfer, Succession • Tags: , , , ,

Will the Circle Be Unbroken?
Managing a Family Business Disaster

by Richard Narva
Principal Consultant, Genus Resources, Inc.

Sam and Jim were the boisterous and passionate owners and leaders of a thriving manufacturing company near Boston with 85 employees. They were also friends of mine. On the last Saturday in March, they went on a flight to Block Island, off Rhode Island. Their plane developed engine trouble and crash landed on Interstate 495, not far from their company, killing both men instantly.

Occurring just prior to the holiday season, this crash was especially agonizing for their families and friends. But Jim and Sam Snyder were also the owners, the board of directors, the CEO’s, and the leaders of Polymer Design, which they founded and grew from nothing to sustained success. More…

Form a Family Limited Partnership

Asset Protection, Estate Planning, Ownership Transfer, Succession • Tags: , , ,

Form a Family Limited Partnership

The University of Connecticut
by B. Patrick O’Donnell Jr., J.D., L.L.M., C.L.U.

For owners of family businesses, the issue of succession invariably becomes a terrible dilemma: How to transfer assets to the next generation while simultaneously maintaining controlover major decisions and avoiding crippling estate tax liabilities.

Growing numbers of owners are discovering a suitable answer in an estate and financialplanning technique known as a Family Limited Partnership (FLP). In an FLP, control lies withthe general partners, who can have a tiny equity ownership (as little as 1%, although 5% is morethe norm) while still retaining control and deciding how much partnership income goes to thelimited partners. The general partners are the decision makers and the limited partners hold mostof the equity. More…