Business Succession Planning Practice - Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP

business succession planning overview

The Business Succession Planning Practice Area counsels owners of family businesses of all sizes in establishing organizational structures to satisfy their current and long-term needs, to plan for the transfer of the business to the next generation (whether during the owner's lifetime or upon death), and to implement such strategies. Such planning helps to avert substantial estate taxes and conflicting interests among family members that can threaten the long-term survival of what is often an entrepreneur's most prized asset.

The Business Succession Planning Group draws on the expertise of attorneys from the firm's Tax, Probate and Estate Planning Department, Business and Finance Department, and Labor Department to design and implement business succession plans that are tailored to the needs and desires of each individual client.

Business and Finance attorneys prepare operating agreements, shareholder agreements and voting trusts, purchase agreements, and employment agreements. Tax, Probate and Estate Planning attorneys design estate and gift plans and employee benefit arrangements.

In each case, we work closely with the family business and its outside advisors, including accountants, wealth managers, and insurance professionals.

Services that we provide include:

Selecting the most advantageous entity to hold, manage, and transfer the family business, such as S and C corporations, limited liability companies, and partnerships.
Designing a structure to accomplish the owner's specific goals (such as maintaining control, raising capital, avoiding outside owners, and providing for a smooth transition in ownership and management).
Establishing a comprehensive estate plan that takes advantage of all available tax credits and exclusions, including the federal family business exclusion for qualifying businesses.
Using family limited partnerships and other mechanisms for transferring equity while maintaining control and deferring or avoiding tax.
Using life insurance and other assets to equalize the inheritances of children who will not be significant owners of the business with those who will own the business.
Planning for retention of key employees who are not family members.
Designing employment policies to facilitate compliance with applicable laws and to further promote the owner's business objectives.
Assisting the owner in balancing the diverse interests and needs of different generations and in resolving intra-family conflicts.
Preparing prenuptial and postnuptial agreements and providing advice in connection with the dissolution of a marriage or divorce in order to protect business interests and preserve family wealth.

Jeffrey S. Schloemer
Business Succession Planning Practice Contact
(513) 357-9609
schloemer@taftlaw.com

Susan E. Wheatley
Business Succession Planning Practice Contact
(513) 357-9337
wheatley@taftlaw.com

Missia H. Vaselaney
Business Succession Planning Practice Contact
(216) 736-3323
mvaselaney@taftlaw.com

Richard O. Kissel II
Business Succession Planning Practice Contact
(317) 713-3669
rkissel@taftlaw.com

Press Releases \| Events

Press Releases


2006-11-10 Terrance Ashanta Barker and James Zimmerman of Taft Stettinius & Hollister Selected For C-Change
2006-10-19 Eight Associates Join Cincinnati Office Of Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP
2006-08-18 Tom Vergamini Elected To Northern Kentucky Chamber Of Commerce Board Of Directors
2006-08-16 Susan Wheatley Selected For Leadership Cincinnati USA Program
2006-06-22 Susan Wheatley Elected To Board Of Directors Of The Mercantile Library
2006-05-02 Susan Wheatley Appointed Chair Of Estate Planning And Probate Committee For CBA
2006-04-13 Tracey A. Puthoff Appointed To Hamilton County Board Of Health
2006-01-16 Lori Jeffries, John Mueller And Patty Pryor Elected Partners At Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP
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Past Events

2004-11-17 Estate Planning for the Family Business
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