Business Planning

Walser & Herman Law Firm helps Florida business owners to develop a comprehensive business succession and family wealth strategy. Drawing on more than 30 years of estate planning and business experience, our team evaluates your company and personal asset protection plan and recommends tools for preserving your property for future generations.

After working hard to build your business, you can secure its continued success through an effective business succession plan. Your succession plan not only allows you to guide the future of your company into the next generation, but also helps you protect your retirement and preserve wealth for your family. Your business succession plan should address such aspects as who will move into an interim role should a principal die and how terms of buyout of the decedent’s interests will be determined.

A limited liability corporation (LLC) is a hybrid structure that includes the liability protections of a corporation and the taxation and operational advantages of a partnership. A properly formed LLC can also benefit you in your business succession and estate planning strategies, including protecting family wealth from creditors. The structure allows profits and losses to pass through to the owners, who then pay taxes on the money as personal income, just as in a partnership. However, the owners are not personally liable to the company’s creditors, meaning personal assets remain secure.

Proper formation and maintenance of the LLC are crucial to avoid having a creditor pierce the corporate veil and go after your personal property. Walser & Herman Law Firm can help you set up your LLC and register with the Florida Department of State Division of Corporations. Our lawyers offer advice on the steps you should take to preserve the LLC’s protective veil, such as keeping certain documents and records, and on remaining in compliance with Florida legal requirements.

A living trust, also called an inter-vivos trust, can add an additional layer of creditor protection to the profits you earn from your LLC. As the name implies, you create the trust while you are alive, as opposed to a testamentary trust, which is formed at the time of your death. A living trust consists of:

• Grantor — You transfer your property from your personal ownership to the living trust.
• Trustee — You act as the trustee of the living trust to manage the property during your lifetime.
• Successor trustee — You designate a trustee who distributes the property to your successor beneficiaries after your death.
• Beneficiaries — The assets are managed to benefit you during your lifetime and are transferred to your heirs by the successor trustee at the time of your death.

Make business succession planning and asset protection part of your estate planning strategy. Walser & Herman Law Firm advises you on the tools and methods for protecting your business and your family now and in the future. Call our Boca Raton family trust attorneys at (561) 710-1040 or send us an email to schedule a consultation.