I’ve just finished reading the Estate of Purdue case, a tax court case decided in December. The case is interesting as an introduction to sophisticated tax planning strategies–FLLC, trusts, and all that. However, the real lesson from this case–and others like it–is that facts matter to courts. In this case, the IRS was contending that […]
That happened in the Estate of Purdue case decided on December 28, 2015–less than three months ago. And you can read a brief summary of why in the instructively titled article Attention to How Your Farm Business is Organized Pays Off for the Heirs at Tax Time. Bottom line, a family limited liability company formed with […]
Farm and ranch estate planning and business planning involve countless choices and numerous wrenching decisions but none that ranks with pursuing fairness between and among the heirs.10 In almost every situation where it is planned for the farm or ranch business to continue into the next generation, and it appears that there will be both on farm heirs and off-farm heirs, the issue of fairness is […]
After years of studying family businesses, we believe it’s possible to identify one just by walking into the lobby of its headquarters. Unlike many multinationals, most of these firms don’t have luxurious offices. As the CEO at one global family-controlled commodity group told us, “The easiest money to earn is the money we haven’t spent.” While countless corporations use stock grants and options to […]
Critical Skills You Should Learn That Pay Dividends Forever How to Get a Busy Person to Respond to Your Email Venture Deals: Be Smarter Than Your Lawyer and a Venture Capitalist To be honest, I just started reading this one today.