One Answer to a Family Business Owner’s
Wish to Treat His Children Equally
Family Business Quarterly
by Joseph F. Blum
How does a parent who owns a successful family business treat all his children “equally” when only some are working in the business?
In our age of career and family mobility, this question represents an increasingly common dilemma facing owners of family companies as they try to do estate planning. It raises a host of financial and emotional issues for both the older and younger generation. For example, how can children who aren’t working in the family business be granted equal portions of an estate that consists primarily of the business without alienating the children who are working in the business?
Absent resolution, these and other such questions can lead to feelings of resentment in both generations. Complete equality in such situations, as in much of life, is nearly impossible to achieve. But increasingly, those of us who work with family business estate matters are developing approaches that create feelings of equality so that everyone involved feels satisfied with the outcome. More…
