Building a business and acquiring assets both require dedicated effort and sacrifice. You and your loved ones deserve to enjoy the fruits of your labor. Unfortunately, if you do not take steps to protect all that you have built, you could be at risk of loss.
You owe it to yourself and your loved ones to make an asset protection plan and a business plan to ensure that your company and wealth are safe and secure, no matter what the future brings. Kuhn & Kuhn is here to help. Give us a call to find out about the assistance that we can provide to you and to get answers to questions you may have including:
- Why is asset protection and business planning so important?
- What steps can I take to protect my business and assets?
- How can a Charleston business planning and asset protection planning lawyer help?
Why is Asset Protection and Business Planning so Important?
Both asset protection and business planning are important because your wealth and your company could be at risk if you have no plans in place.
Your ownership interest is often very valuable, as is other wealth that you have amassed. If you do not make plans to protect these assets in case of your incapacity or after your death, there are many potential risks that could result in the company or assets being reduced in value or even losing their worth entirely.
If you become sick and cannot manage your business or assets any more, your company or wealth is at risk if there is not a trusted person to quickly take over. A period of mismanagement and neglect could cause lost value as your loved ones try to determine who should be in charge. Your family likely will have to go to court to get a guardian or conservator appointed, and if the court appoints a person who cannot manage your company or assets properly, further loss could occur due to mismanagement.
If your illness leads to a need for nursing home care, this care likely won’t be covered by insurance. If you have no plans in place to protect your company or assets, you could be forced to spend your money and potentially even sell company assets to afford the costs of expensive nursing home care. While Medicaid covers nursing home care – even though Medicare and private insurance doesn’t – it won’t be available to you unless you’ve impoverished yourself or unless you have made a plan to protect your wealth or company.
Your death can also trigger tremendous losses to your wealth or could force the sale of your company. Delays in new owners taking over because of a lengthy probate process could again reduce the value of your assets or could cause problems at your company that affect business operations since the new owner won’t be in charge for a long time. And if you owe estate tax, it is possible a substantial portion of your assets could go to the IRS– and your business may even need to be sold to pay the tax bill if there aren’t enough liquid assets in your estate.
What Steps Can You Take to Protect Your Business and Assets?
There are steps you can take to try to protect your company and your wealth. Kuhn & Kuhn can help you to determine the different tools that you can use to keep your company and wealth safe. We can help you to:
- Make a plan in case of incapacity so the right person is in charge of your company or assets. This could involve the creation of a power of attorney, the creation of a living trust and the use of trusts to ensure that you don’t have to impoverish yourself to afford nursing home care.
- Creating a business succession plan so there is an organized plan in place to facilitate the transfer of control over your company in case of your death or disability.
- Creating a plan to facilitate the transfer of your business or assets to loved ones while minimizing or avoiding estate tax. This plan could include many different tools including the creation of a family limited partnership during your lifetime, the incorporation of your business and the gifting of stock shares, and the use of trusts and other tools.
There may also be other steps to take specific to your situation. You should get advice as soon as you can, preferably when you are young and healthy, as you never know when tragedy could strike and leave your company and assets at risk.
How Can a Charleston Business Planning and Asset Protection Lawyer Help?
A Charleston asset protection and business planning lawyer can provide help with the effective use of legal tools to protect your company and wealth. Give us a call today to find out how we can help you.
