Succession Planning
Excellent succession planning requires a personalized yet holistic approach. Attorneys from Reinhart’s Corporate Law, Tax and Trusts and Estates practices work collaboratively to pool their extensive experience and counsel business owners and management in developing comprehensive succession plans. We understand that succession planning is not a single, career-ending event, but instead an ongoing process to build value.
Our advice is customized to each client’s business and objectives. For some, the vision is to extract maximum value for the current owners from a sale to, or merger with, a third party. For others, the vision involves transfers to existing partners, family and/or management and a long-term ownership succession plan. Whatever the goal, our team helps clients create the future they’re aspiring to achieve.
We have broad experience leveraging various techniques to maximize value and minimize the impact of federal estate taxes and income taxes. Techniques most frequently used include:
- Buy-sell contracts (cross-purchase or entity repurchase)
- Employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs)
- Mergers/sales to third parties on a taxable, tax-deferred or tax-free basis through one-on-one negotiations, controlled auction and broader auction
- Stock options and restrictive stock plans for key employees
- Gifting and other techniques with family members, such as installment sales, grantor retained annuity trusts, redemptions, installment sales to grantor trusts, insurance trusts and other like arrangements
- Recapitalizations to create preferred or nonvoting stock
- Recapitalizations to extract value with a simultaneous investment by an investor
- Long-term employment arrangements
- Deferred compensation and salary continuation plans
- Ownership of business assets outside the business entity (e.g., personal goodwill, intellectual property or real estate)
In addition, our accessible, responsive attorneys provide added value by working closely with our clients’ other advisers when and where needed, including appraisers, accountants, insurance professionals and trust officers, to help ensure a smooth process and successful outcome.
Our People
Meet the teamSuccession Planning News & Insights
SECURE ACT: What It Is and How It Could Impact You
Alerts & Updates
How to Protect Your Child's Inheritance for Future Generations
Alerts & Updates
Milwaukee Business Journal’s Family-Owned Business Event
Webinars & Presentations
Family-Owned Businesses: "Not Business as Usual"
Webinars & Presentations
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 - What You Need to Know
Alerts & Updates
A Blueprint for Family Business Succession Planning
Alerts & Updates
Estate Planning for Charitable Giving
Alerts & Updates
Multigenerational Planning: A Case Study
Publications