Farmer and Attorney John Kuhn
Attorney John Kuhn grew up on a 5,400 acre family farm. He is extremely knowledgeable about the dynamics of children with regards to family farms. John Kuhn has also prepared an IRS 706 Death Tax Return for his family farm when his second parent passed away. And, he fully understands the relationship between Federal Death tax and Capital Gains tax, as well as step-up-in-basis issues at death. Attorney Kuhn has already analyzed the nuances in all of these various taxes and how they affect death tax planning, both on the estate tax side and the income tax side. John is one of very few estate planning attorneys in the United States who actually grew up working (and running) a family farm (until he was 28 years old), and then went to law school and became an estate planning and trusts lawyer. And, he is one of only a handful of attorneys in the whole country who has actually drafted his own death tax return for his own family farm.
Family Farms
If you are a farm owner, your farmland should serve as your legacy. Your farm can continue to produce crops, but only if you take steps to protect all that you built.
Kuhn & Kuhn Law Firm is here to help. Our legal team can work closely with you to create an estate plan to protect your farm in case of your incapacity, and after your death. We can help with the creation of a succession plan that ensures that your land can transfer seamlessly to family members and is protected from loss if something happens to you. Give us a call today at (843) 577-3700 to find out how our family farm planning attorneys can help you get answers to questions that you may have.
Family Businesses
Attorney John Kuhn also grew up in a family business. He had to take over managing his family business at age 24 when his father became incapacitated with a brain tumor at his age 55. After managing the family’s 5,400 acre hay farm, and managing the family business for a few years, his younger brother, Jim, successfully took over the farm and family businesses.
John then became an estate planning attorney and helped lots of family businesses in the Charleston area transition to successive family members. John loves helping family businesses with succession planning and with death planning because he has done it for his own family.
Again, our attorneys at Kuhn & Kuhn are here to help with succession planning and with death planning for your family business. Call us today if you have questions about:
What are the risks to your family business?
How can you make a plan to protect your family business?
How can a Charleston-area family business lawyer help you?
We can help with the creation of a succession plan that that ensures that your company assets can transfer seamlessly to new owners and is protected from loss if something happens to you. Give us a call today to find out how our business planning lawyers can help you get answers to questions that you may have. Our phone number is (843) 577-3700.
What are the Risks to Your Farm or Family Business?
Because your farm or family business is likely a valuable asset that requires hands-on management, there are many risks to your company or farm both during your lifetime and after your death.
During your life, if something happens to you, there could be a period of uncertainty where no one is in charge of managing your company or farm. This could cause losses to occur. If no one has been put in charge of taking over when you are no longer able to manage the farm or business, there could be a dispute over who should take ownership. Your loved ones may need to go to court and the court may appoint the wrong person to take over. The value of assets could be lost, especially if there is a long period of uncertainty over who is in charge.
If you are injured or ill and cannot live alone any more, you may need to go into a nursing home. Unfortunately, nursing home care is very expensive and not covered by Medicare or most insurance providers. Medicaid will pay for nursing home care, but if you have valuable business assets or valuable farmland, you may not qualify for Medicaid coverage. You could end up having to sell land or business assets to afford your nursing home care.
Your company and land also continue to be at risk after you pass away. A lengthy probate process could lead to a period of uncertainty and mismanagement in which your business or farm operations suffer. Estate tax could also cause your loved ones to be forced to sell land or company assets in order to afford the bill to the IRS.
How Can You Make a Plan to Protect Your Farm or Family Business?
You don’t want your company or your land lost because of estate tax, high nursing home care costs, or irresponsible management. To make sure that this does not happen, you need to make a comprehensive business succession plan or a plan to transfer your farm if something happens to you.
There are many different tools you can use to try to facilitate the transfer of control and the transfer of valuable assets. Some families create limited partnerships or structure their businesses as corporations so they can facilitate the transfer of ownership during the course of their lifetime. Trusts are also powerful tools that can be used to facilitate the transfer of ownership of a farm or family business in a timely and cost-effective way. The creation of a power of attorney can be helpful as well to ensure that the right person is able to immediately begin managing assets if something happens to you.
The best course of action is going to depend upon many factors including the value of your land or company assets, your family structure, and your goals for the business. You should work with an experienced attorney to understand the tools you can use and to choose the right processes to protect your company and land and ensure it can survive long after you are gone.
How can a Charleston Farm and Family Business Planning Lawyer Help You?
Kuhn & Kuhn is focused on helping owners of family farms and small businesses. We have extensive experience addressing the difficult issues that can arise when you have a company or land to pass on.
To find out how a Charleston farm and family business planning lawyer at our firm can assist you in making sure your farm or company can be your legacy, give us a call at 843-577-3700 or contact us online today.
