When does a business owner need estate planning beyond a basic will?

Pretty early on a revocable living trust can be a good thing to add. This can help get money to the people you care about quickly. Assets in this trust will flow quickly to the beneficiaries instead of waiting on a court to decide what your will is saying. These trusts will also be more private for you and your family.
Gifting and inheritance can be somewhat straightforward up until you expect to have $30M or more at death. After that, estate planning gets more complicated. Early planning can create millions in extra wealth for the next generation. Many of these strategies do not require complicated trusts or legal documents. For a growing business, there is much more that can be done. The value of this planning increases when the family has assets that will grow quickly such as a private business.
If your business is currently worth around $10M and you expect it to continue to grow, it is probably a good time to start looking ahead so that you can be ready before you need to start making long-term decisions. The last thing we would want would be to make rushed decisions.

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