It’s been a long afternoon and an even longer week. You’re sitting at your desk on Friday afternoon trying to get those last few things on your To-Do list crossed off before 5pm so you can go into the weekend without having anything hanging over your head. The sun is shining outside. You might even […]
We try to encourage people to not only plan for the transfer of their personal assets but also to plan for the transfer of their businesses – either in life or at death. Buy-Sell Agreements are beneficial documents when drafting a succession plan for a business. It is however important to ensure that the buy-sell […]
Last week the company Snapchat, and its founders, made headline news when they rejected a $3 billion deal from Facebook. Why did they reject the offer? It has been reported it was because they felt there was more to earn down the road. Did they pass up a deal of a lifetime? Or will they […]
Bethenny Frankel is the real housewife turned mogul, who sold her SkinnyGirl drinks to Beam Global for $120 million. In a matter of a few years, Bethenny went from near bankruptcy to multi-millionaire. She also went from single, to marriage, to motherhood in that same time frame. And now, she is getting divorced. I don’t pretend to be […]
As previously written in Trusts and Minnesota Farmland, the Corporate Farm Act imposes restrictions on the ownership of farmland here in Minnesota. Among other things, it requires that certain entities such as Partnerships, LLCs, and Trusts qualify under Minnesota Statute 500.24 in order to hold title to farmland. The result is that if an individual […]
Minnesota has a professional firms act that requires licensed professionals (as defined in MN Statute 319B.02 subd.19) to, among other things, register their business as a professional firm. One particular requirement of the statute, that all owners of the business be licensed professionals, often makes succession planning a challenge. Under most circumstances, an LLC member […]
Across the board, the significant majority of personal injury lawsuits and workers’ compensation claims are resolved through settlement. The reasons for the high percentage of cases that settle are myriad. Our crowded court system and resulting delays can wear down litigants; the increase in alternative dispute resolution helps cases resolve before trial; the inherent unpredictability […]
Below is an illustration (a fictitious one) with three things to consider upon the death of a spouse who owns a business. Henry and Wendy celebrated their 30th anniversary last summer with their two children and three grandchildren. At the time of her death in November 2011, Wendy owned an increasingly successful retail business. Henry […]
For those of you out there that are residents of Minnesota and owners of a small business or family farm, there is a relatively new law offering relief from the Minnesota estate tax.
Similar to transferring a home, cabin, or other piece of real property into a revocable trust, individuals who have inherited or purchased farmland in Minnesota may want to transfer their farmland into a revocable trust. The reasons vary depending upon the situation, however, the major reason for transferring farmland into a trust is for estate […]
A Family Partnership is an entity designed to hold family assets such as marketable securities, real estate, and operating businesses. The Partnership Agreement can be drafted to allow for lifetime transfers of Partnership interests as well as transfers upon an individual’s death to his or her descendants Using a Family Partnership may