Family-owned businesses and farms can create generational wealth. Whether you inherited your farm or business or built it from scratch with your own two hands, you want to protect your company and land for future generations. Your business or farm are more than just a way to make a living- they are a way of life. You deserve to have the strongest protection possible for your farm or your company so they can serve as your legacy.
Cochrangersh Law Offices, P.S.C. understands the importance of protecting family-owned businesses and farms and our Louisville estate planning lawyers will help you to keep them secure during your life and after your death. Give us a call today so we can create a personalized plan for you and so we can provide you with key information on:
- What are the risks to your family-owned business or farm?
- What can you do to protect your family farm or family business?
- How can a Louisville estate planning lawyer help you?
What are the Risks To Your Family-Owned Business or Farm?
Your family-owned business or your farm are valuable assets. As a result, they are at risk in situations where your assets may be taxed or otherwise taken from you. There are potential risks both during your life and after your death including:
- Divorce
- Bankruptcy
- Tort lawsuits such as a personal injury claim
- Creditor claims and judgments
- Estate taxes
- Nursing home costs (spending down of assets is required before Medicaid pays for care)
- Mismanagement in case of incapacity
- Business succession issues
When you leave your property to the next generation, there is also the potential that your heirs will behave irresponsibly and be unable to effectively manage the gift you have given them. You need to make sure you consider steps you can take both during your life and after you are gone to ensure your farm, your business assets, and your company brand are protected.
What Can You Do To Protect Your Family Farm or Family Business?
The steps you will take to protect your farm or family business will vary based on many factors including the value of your asset(s); the specific needs of your heirs; the life cycle of development your business and farm are in; and your personal and family situation. Some of the potential steps which could be helpful include:
- Creating a buy/sell agreement to address business succession issues.
- Creating a power of attorney or a living trust so you can determine who is in charge of asset management in case of incapacity.
- Creating a Medicaid plan, including the strategic transfer of ownership of the farm or company into a trust or to a new owner at least five years before Medicaid is required.
- Structuring ownership of assets to avoid probate and to avoid triggering estate taxes.
- Structuring ownership of assets to make yourself and your heirs less vulnerable to loss due to divorce, bankruptcy, or creditor claims.
- Incorporating your business to avoid facing personal liability for company debt and to make transfer of ownership of company shares simpler.
These are just a few possible steps which may be appropriate in different situations when making an effort to protect a family farm or a family business. Your plan for protecting your business and farm need to be customized and an experienced Louisville estate planning attorney can offer the assistance you need.
How Can a Louisville Estate Planning Lawyer Help You?
Cochrangersh Law Offices, P.S.C. can provide comprehensive assistance to owners of farms and family businesses. We can conduct a risk assessment and discuss your goals with you in order to identify the tools under Kentucky law which can be used to protect your farm and company.
Once we have a plan in place for how to protect your assets, we will assist you with taking the formal legal steps necessary to implement that plan. This may include following appropriate legal formalities to create trusts, to fund the trusts, to create a power of attorney, to incorporate, and to make use of other methods of asset protection.
Don’t leave your family farm or your family’s business at risk and don’t leave yourself and your loved ones vulnerable to loss. Call today to speak with a Louisville estate planning lawyer who can help you to ensure you are protecting the assets that matter so you can leave behind a strong legacy for those you love.
