How to Protect Your St. Louis Business Through Estate Planning
As a business owner, you have the power to protect the future of your enterprise and beneficiaries with a well-crafted estate plan. Comprehensive estate planning can allow you to preserve your business interests and protect it from uncertainty even after your death. Learn how you can safeguard your legacy by consulting with a business estate planning lawyer in St. Louis.
Asset Protection
You’ve worked hard to build your business and accumulate a legacy that you can be proud of. Now it’s time to keep your earnings and assets safe from potential threats with a solid estate plan. A combination of estate planning tools can aggressively protect your assets and give you the financial peace of mind you deserve.
An asset protection attorney can help you preserve as much wealth in connection with your business as possible for your heirs to inherit. An asset protection plan designed by an attorney can preserve your business assets, protect them from creditors and excessive taxation, prevent the public probate process after your death, and preserve your wealth into retirement and beyond.
Legal tools that can be used to protect your business assets include a will, which can distribute assets to loved ones and beneficiaries after your death. You may also wish to create a living trust, which enables you to designate a trustee to manage your business assets on behalf of a beneficiary. Finally, having a financial or medical power of attorney can put you in control of who will make critical decisions on your behalf if you cannot.
Succession Planning
Another key aspect of business estate planning is organizing the succession of your company. Planning who will take over your business once you retire, pass away or become incapacitated is critical to safeguarding the future of the company.
A solid estate plan will ensure the continuity of your business post-succession, providing the stability and consistency your clients and customers need. Having everything mapped out ahead of time can protect your business from uncertainty and allow it to uphold the trust it has built with customers.
An attorney can help you with business succession planning and choosing the right person to take over your business when the time comes. This may be a family member, one or more business partners, or an outside buyer. Your wishes will be documented for the record using the correct legal tools to ensure your desires are upheld in a court of law.
Tax Minimization
Nobody wants their business to be subject to excessive taxation. An estate planning attorney can develop a strategy to shield your business and assets from tax liabilities as much as possible. Creating a trust, for example, can allow you to plan ahead and take advantage of the right tax brackets for maximum protection. The correct type of trust can minimize the impact of estate taxes on your St. Louis business.
A lawyer can also help you minimize taxes associated with transferring the ownership of your business to someone else in the future. Various trust strategies can mitigate tax liabilities connected to passing your business to someone else more effectively than gifting the business during your lifetime or at death.
Work With the Right Attorney for Your Business Estate Planning Needs in St. Louis
An estate planning lawyer can provide you with vital information, tools and assistance to protect the interests of your business now and far into the future. Your attorney can help you master asset protection, tax considerations, succession planning and more with a comprehensive estate plan.
An experienced advisor can help craft strategies for your particular business and goals. For more information, contact TdD Attorneys at Law for a free consultation with a local estate planning lawyer in St. Louis.