Four Vital Aspects to Include in Your Business Plan

You have all-star employees, high profit margins, the corner office and your own private bathroom. Business is booming again and you think to yourself….oh what a wonderful world.

Until you get sued.

You can kiss that corner office and private porcelain potty goodbye, because the one thing you didn’t have was a business plan to protect yourself.

You are savvy in your industry, but may have forgotten a few very important aspects to a successful business plan. They include:

Partnerships for Asset Protection

Creating partnerships will limit your exposure to liability now and avoid losses to your business and family in the future. In fact, a creditor will not have access to any property that is titled to the limited partnership or to a multi-member LLC.

Click here if you wish to learn more: http://wfplaw.com/Partnerships-for-Asset-Protection.html

Corporate Formation

By forming a corporation, you can limit your exposure to lawsuits and reduce your overall liabilities. In addition, forming a corporation comes with a plethora of tax benefits.

Click here to learn more: http://wfplaw.com/Corpoate-Formation.html

Document Drafting

Proper legal preparation of your corporate documents, employment contracts and non-compete agreements can be crucial to the protection of your work product.

Business Succession Planning

Implementing a plan in the event of your death, illness, or incapacitation can protect your fellow colleagues as well as your family. Sometimes your business could be the largest asset you leave to your family. But without a business succession plan, you risk probate and no say in how the business is handled after your death.

Click here to learn more: http://wfplaw.com/Corpoate-Formation.html

Wild Felice and Partners understands every business is unique. We are able to provide a full range of services to ensure your business is protected at all angles. We pride ourselves on providing accurate advice for your specific business needs.

If you have any questions regarding business planning, estate planning or asset protection, we here to help.

Wild Felice and Partners provide estate planning and asset protection in Fort Lauderdale, Plantation, Weston and Miami.

Take a look at how family is often presented in the media. What do we see? It’s a husband, a wife, two or three kids, and probably a pet. The grandparents, still happily married after all that time, stop by for Thanksgiving dinner, pie under their arms. Sounds like something right out of a Publix commercial. If Flintstones and the Jetsons are any indication, this family set-up has been around since the age of cavemen and will be the norm long into the future. Estate planning for such a family dynamic is quite straightforward. But is this family really the norm? With a national divorce rate hovering around 50%, probably not. In actuality, you probably don’t have the “perfect” family set-up of yesteryear’s media; instead, you need estate planning for your modern family. Since we all differences between our family structure, let’s look at some examples from everyone’s favorite Modern Family: the Pritchetts.

            What would happen if Jay were to somehow die without an estate plan? Well, first, let’s first assume that the family has all moved from California to Florida between the seasons and is now domiciled here at the time of Jay’s death. If he has no will, not even one executed in California (Florida would recognize a validly executed out-of-state will), then the Florida intestacy statutes control how the estate assets are distributed. Since Jay would leave behind a surviving spouse and two kids from a previous marriage, his wife Gloria would receive half of the estate. The other half would go to Jay’s descendants in equal shares. How this remaining half of the estate would be divided depends on whether Jay adopted Gloria’s son from a previous marriage, Manny. If Manny has been legally adopted, then he is Jay’s child by law and can inherit. Otherwise, he would receive nothing. Assuming that Jay did adopt Manny, then Mitchell, Claire, Manny, and baby Joe would each receive an eighth of the estate. Intestate succession in Florida is “per stirpes” which means each decedent receives an equal share. How many children a descendant has does not affect the share he or she will receive. This means that if Claire passed away before Jay, her three kids would each receive an equal share of the eight she would have inherited. Mitchell’s daughter would receive his full eighth share.

            But as we all know, Jay isn’t the type of person to let something as important as estate planning pass him by. Rather, Jay likely had an estate plan in place years ago, and has updated it with every major life event since (his remarriage, his son’s adoption of a child, his son’s marriage, and the birth of his new son). Jay, who built his company from the ground up, would likely want to protect and control his assets for as long as he could. Therefore, he would likely use a trust based plan for his estate distribution. A trust based plan would give him multiple advantages over a basic will. First, Jay would want to leave a great deal of money to his wife Gloria. However, Gloria is already on her 2^nd marriage and is much younger than Jay and will not stay single for long. If she were to get remarried, a large portion of Jay’s assets could end up with her new husband. A trust fund would prevent anyone other than her and later her children from getting the money. Trust funds would also be the best way to give money to both of his minor sons. Jay could name the trustee of his choice to manage the assets until an age where each son is ready to become their own trustee, such as 25 or 30. Trusts would also allow Jay to give money to his two grown children, Claire and Mitchell, while protecting it from their respective spouses, who Jay is not the biggest fans of.

            Claire and Phil, both successful businesspeople, likely have an estate plan in place as well to protect their three children. With two minor children, the couple would be smart to have guardian designations in their estate plan. The two of them would also likely follow Jay’s lead and have a trust based plan. Haillie has yet to show the necessary maturity to manage her own funds and her judgment with men could be described as questionable. Putting her inheritance in a trust fund and setting an age at which she would have full control over it will help to protect the funds while she becomes responsible enough. The same logic applies to their youngest son, Luke. While middle child Alex has demonstrated responsibility and maturity throughout her teen years, she is still a minor and would need a trustee to manage the funds until she becomes an adult. Phil and Claire could require that the children never get to control their own funds, putting a corporate trustee or even their lawyer uncle Mitchell in charge of distributing the funds. The use of trusts funds allows for maximum inheritance protection, but from outside creditors and from the beneficiaries themselves.

            And what of Cameron and Mitchell’s estate planning? As a same-sex couple, estate planning is especially important. The couple was legally married in California, but Florida does not yet recognize same-sex marriage. Therefore, while the couple can receive federal benefits as a married couple, they do not receive any under state law and will not be viewed as married for state intestacy laws. Cam and Mitchell should follow in what is becoming a family tradition and use a trust based plan, though the reasoning is different for this couple. Wills must be probated in court before estate property can be distributed and are public documents. A trust is private; the court is not involved. Cam and Mitchell would be smart to avoid the risk of having their will in front of a conservative judge. Cam and Mitchell should use what is colloquially referred to as “I love you” trusts, where the decedent leaves everything to the surviving spouse, and down to their daughter Lilly. The trusts mirror each other, maximizing the ease of administration and assuring maximum protection for the beneficiaries. Cam and Mitchell’s estate plan should also name a guardian for Lilly, a minor, in the event that they both pass before she is an adult.

            These are just a few of the many situations that can occur with today’s modern families, but it shows just how intricate estate planning can be. Just within this one family, three different approaches were used. Even though each family ended up in a trust based plan, each plan is different, personalized. And that is what you deserve. Don’t find yourself with an estate planning attorney who only cares about taxes, or one who will just cut and paste your name in a form he’s already used countless times.

For more information on successful Florida estate planning and asset protection techniques, please contact the South Florida law firm of Wild Felice & Partners, P.A. at 954-944-2855 to schedule your free consultation.

It’s a Wild world. Are you protected? SM

Last week the Miami Dolphins were dealt a crippling blow when they were denied public money for a stadium upgrade.  Without a major rehab of the beloved stadium, South Florida’s chances of hosting the 50th Super Bowl in 2016 are greatly reduced.

Stephen Ross, the current 95% owner of the Miami Dolphins, sought both state and local help to pay for an estimated $400 million worth of renovations to Sun Life Stadium.  The team worries that the stadium, built in 1987, may become inoperable without the proper renovations within the next 5 to 10 years.   Florida’s Legislature didn’t see it that way, and adjourned after refused to allow a vote on this bill.  Rep. Carlos Trujillo, a Republican from Miami, simply stated, “It was a bad deal for taxpayers.”

If only the former owner of the Miami Dolphins, Joe Robbie, would have completed his estate plan before he died…

Joe Robbie is Florida’s greatest example of dealing with the consequences of not having a proper estate plan or business succession plan in place.   Joseph Robbie was the owner of the Miami Dolphins and founder of the Joe Robbie Stadium.  Upon his untimely death in 1990, his estate was valued at $100 million.  9 months after his death, he owed approximately $47 million in estate taxes.  The family was forced to sell the Dolphins and the stadium at a bargain-basement price, at just a fraction of the team’s real value.  In 1994, Financial Planning magazine reported, “the year’s biggest loser in the National Football League is the Robbie family, the former owner of the Miami Dolphins.”

The real tragedy is that it all could have been avoided had Robbie implemented a simple life insurance policy to pay the estate taxes.  Instead, the family was torn apart by the stress of the forced sale.  Just imagine the worth of Robbie’s 2 prized assets in today’s market place had he done some proper estate and business succession planning?

As great a businessman as Joe Robbie was, he missed a major league opportunity to provide for his family.  A proper game plan for succession of your business and the estate taxes that may be due upon your death, will allow you to leave a lasting legacy to preserve everything you worked so hard to achieve.

For more information on successful Florida estate planning and business succession planning,  please contact the South Florida law firm of Wild Felice & Partners, P.A. at 954-944-2855 to schedule your free consultation.

It’s a Wild world. Are you protected?

Well… at least the team’s multi-billionaire owner is.

Miami Heat fans, when not preoccupied with Kevin Durant or silenced by LeBron James’ basket moves, are well acquainted with Micky Arison, probably the richest man in Florida.

Also the CEO of Carnival Cruises, Micky is no stranger to the concept of estate planning. Did you know that his father, Ted Arison, co-founder of the Cruise Lines, went so far as to renounce his citizenship in order to avoid paying estate taxes?

In 2003, the Arison family sold more than $100 million of Carnival stock in order to reduce their controlling stake in the company and diversify their investments as part of an estate and tax planning strategy.

Micky has even formed the Micky and Madeleine Arison Family Charitable Trust with a philanthropic commitment to the University of Miami as well as Miami’s City Ballet, Children’s Museum, Art Museum, and the American Red Cross.

Arison has been described as a very competitive person who hates the prospect of losing. Yet, the business of owning a professional sports team can cause serious financial difficulties for surviving family members after the death of its owner. In 2009, Micky probably stayed afloat with the news surrounding death of Bill Davidson, majority owner of the NBA’s Detroit Pistons, whom the Miami Heat just happened to defeat in the 2006 NBA championship.

Davidson’s spouse Karen, inherited the team through a complex series of trusts along with her two adult children. She contemplated selling the team to a private equity investor, which was consummated last year. It was speculated that although the estate was worth billions, she would not owe any estate tax. However, after her death, her children would be left to pay Uncle Sam’s hefty tax bill.

It would not be surprising if Micky has already engaged in smart business succession planning by accounting for the Miami Heat in his estate plan in order to save his family from the bullets of heavy taxation.

However, the core of estate planning is in actuality, not about how much money you make. It’s really about protecting your loved ones, regardless of your income level or age.

We already know what the man behind the Miami Heat is doing to solidify his estate plan.

The question now remains… what are “you” doing about yours?

If you have family, friends or even a charitable intent, the absence of an estate plan is inexcusable. For more information on successful Florida estate planning and probate techniques, please contact the South Florida law firm of Wild Felice & Partners, P.A. at 954-944-2855 or via email at info@wfplaw.com to schedule your free consultation.

It’s a Wild world. Are you protected?

Having a good business plan is like having a detailed map for a long road trip: if you make the right turns and anticipating detours, the trip can go more smoothly. Part of that business plan should include proper legal preparation, but many small businesses today lack this key element. If you set up your business correctly, you can limit your exposure to liability now and avoid losses to your business and family in the future. Any business venture comes with a litany of legal issues and it is imperative that you seek the advice of a business attorney.

Most business owners think they’re too busy to plan for the day they will leave the business and consequently put off succession planning. Leaving business succession for another day may prove fatal. Illness, incapacity, or death can come at any moment. This can be devastating to a business because it is difficult to make rational decisions in emotional times. Establishing a succession plan should be a top priority for any business regardless of its size. Like a well-run relay race, the handing over of a company should be a carefully planned and strategized transition. It must be well executed if it is to be successful.

At Wild, Felice & Pardo, PA, we are able to provide a full range of legal services to our business clients. Whether buying a new business, selling an old business, or operating a current business, our lawyers are trained to examine all aspects of business planning and see to it that all possible issues are addressed. We pride ourselves on providing accurate advice for your specific business needs. For more information on how to shield your business from risk and liability, contact our South Florida law firm for a free consultation.