Foster Swift attorneys counsel families in all stages of succession planning by balancing business and family goals to help pass the family business successfully to the next generation. By ensuring family members where they stand with the future of a family business, it eliminates uncertainty and minimizes unintended problems now and in the future.
A four step approach is taken to help provide a clear vision of the company's future.
- Identifying the owner's business goals, family goals, and financial needs;
- Transitioning management of the family business;
- Transferring ownership of the business; and
- Estate planning for the owner(s) and family.
Foster Swift's attorneys have decades of experience providing succession planning services, including:
- Management succession
- Family limited partnerships
- Gift programs
- Recapitalization
- Buy-sell agreements
- Profit sharing/pension planning
- Tax planning (federal, gift, estate, real property, etc.)
- Business valuation
- Private Annuities
- Employee Benefits
- Insurance
- Stock bonus plans
- Installment sales
- Gift/Sale transactions
- Salary Continuation Agreement
- Employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs)
- Self canceling installment notes (SCINs)
- Sales to intentionally defective grantor trusts (IDGTs)
- Grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs)
- Deferred Compensation
- Estate Planning
Recent Blog Posts
Publications & Alerts
- Succession Planning for Business Owners: More Important than Ever, Yahoo! Finance, December 30, 2021
- Your Initial Estate Planning Meeting: What to Keep in Mind, Foster Swift Agricultural Law News, November 10, 2021
- Budget Reconciliation – A Congressional Time Machine?, Foster Swift Agricultural Law News, September 16, 2021
- Loss of Basis Step-Up at Death and Increase in Capital Gains Tax, Foster Swift Trust & Estates Law News, February 2, 2021
- Don’t Wait to Begin Business Succession Planning, MiBiz, September 15, 2020
- How to Talk to Your Family About Succession Planning, Foster Swift Agricultural Law News, March 30, 2020
Events
- Creating a Legacy & Maintaining Family Harmony with Effective Planning, Foster Swift Legal Strategies for Women Leaders, October 4, 2022
- Protecting Your Business and Assets when the Marriage Fails, Foster Swift Legal Strategies for Women Leaders, August 9, 2022
- Moving Forward: Succession Planning for Your Business, Michigan Movers Association, February 16, 2022
- Estate Planning Seminar, Farm Bureau, September 18, 2021
- ESOPS: A Trending Business Succession Strategy, MICPA Learning Showcase, June 15, 2021
- Estate and Succession Planning Essentials for Family Farms: Don’t Procrastinate – Control the Future of Your Farm, Great Lakes Crop Summit, January 30, 2019
- Estate and Succession Planning for Family-Owned Agri-Businesses, Michigan Cattlemen's Association, January 21, 2012
News
- Tjapkes Joins Grand Rapids Office of Foster Swift, January 26, 2021
- Foster Swift Elects Six Shareholders in 2021, January 13, 2021
- Firm Elects Executive Committee Members for 2019, Michigan Lawyers Weekly, March 7, 2019
- Janssen Receives Community Foundation Philanthropy Award, Michigan West Coast Chamber of Commerce, June 6, 2018