When you want to keep it in the family

By Pete Blanco

For a business owner, one of the biggest legacies to leave behind is the company and business that he or she has spent many waking hours building. However, at this time when many may be struggling to keep their businesses afloat, the idea of succession planning may be further down the to-do list. But without a proper succession plan in place, the business one has worked so hard to build may not survive absence of the original business owner, whether it is due to retirement, illness, or even death.

In addition, the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act of 2010 (hereinafter referred to as the Act) may present a unique albeit, temporary (during 2011 and 2012), opportunity for owners of closely held businesses to review their business succession plans and to consider using some or all of their $5 million gift tax exemption to transfer interests in the family business (or family real estate) to their children.

Although thoughtful succession planning should take place any time during the lifetime of a business, now more than ever, there are benefits to helping them come to fruition. Therefore, making a commitment to put together a business succession plan is the very first step in the process.

(This article was published Feb 2012 @Voxxi.com )

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Pete Blanco

As a certified financial planner professional for over 20 years, Pete works primarily with business executives, physicians, retirees and other professionals concerning, retirement, insurance, investments, asset protection and estate preservation are planning. Pete writes and contributes to financial planning articles for the Miami Herald, El Miami Herald, Exito, Sun Sentinel and other newspapers and magazines. He is a financial planner and investment advisor representative with New England Financial and New England Securities, MetLife Companies. He is a well known seminar speaker on insurance, estate and retirement planning.