Careful Wording For Bequest of Business in Will
Was working with a nice couple yesterday. They've spent years building a successful business. One of their children works with the business and much of the growth has been attributed to that child. The couple wanted to make sure that this particular child inherited the business, and that their remaining assets would be divided among all their children in a certain proportion.
Their business is owned by their LLC (limited liability company). Sounds pretty simple. Leave the LLC to that one child, and split up everything else.
However, they run their business out of a warehouse. What they failed to mention - until the very end of our discussion - was that the warehouse is owned by another LLC. In order to accomplish their objectives of leaving all the business assets to their child, we have to structure their Wills so that both LLC's are bequeathed to this particular child, with everything else being divided among the children.
We also talked about gifting small percentage interests of the business to the son annually to avoid estate tax - but that's another story.
Bottom line - if you are going to leave a business to someone in your will, make sure you structure the bequest so that it includes not only the name of the entity, but any other business assets that you may own individually or that you may own in another entity.
We can help. If you live in Louisiana and need help with estate planning for the succession of your business, give me a call at 225-329-2450, or shoot me an email at paul@rabalaislaw.com. Be happy to chat with you about it.
Paul Rabalais
