Business Succession Planning
Passing a company to the next generation, to key employees, or to a buyer, on your terms and your timeline.
A closely held business is usually the largest asset its owner has and the one hardest to transfer. The founder's role, the family's expectations, the company's value for estate tax purposes, and the liquidity needed to pay that tax all have to be reconciled. KPLAN Law Group works on succession as a single plan that spans corporate law, estate planning, and tax.
Depending on the family and the business, that plan may involve gifts or sales of interests to a trust, a recapitalization into voting and non-voting shares, a buy-sell agreement funded with insurance, a management buyout, or a staged sale to an outside buyer. We evaluate each path with the estate, gift, and income tax consequences modeled, and coordinate valuation and reporting with our affiliated CPA firm, KYJ, LLP.
For families with cross-border ties, particularly between the United States and Korea, we also address the interaction of U.S. transfer taxes with foreign inheritance rules so that a plan that works in one country does not create a problem in the other.
How we help
- Succession plans for family-owned and closely held companies
- Buy-sell agreements and funding strategies
- Recapitalizations, voting and non-voting interests, and gifts to trusts
- Management buyouts and transfers to key employees
- Coordination of business valuation and gift tax reporting
- Integration with the owner's estate plan and liquidity planning