The employment landscape has changed over the last few years and many small and mid-size companies today operate with outside help – contractors or freelancers who perform important tasks but who are not full-time employees on your payroll, or even third-party companies who consult on a new product or service.

While companies that contract with these outside resources can gain access to top-tier talent without having to increase headcount, there can be pitfalls to this approach in terms of properly protecting company secrets and intellectual property assets. Here’s what you need to know before you bring on a new team member: 

Be sure you own what you want to protect. To begin with, review any non-disclosure agreements or work for hire agreements you may have signed with former employers to ensure any ideas brought to your own company cannot be claimed by someone else in your employment past.  

Confirm new contractors are clear to be hired. As part of your hiring process, ask all new contractors (and employees as well) if they have any NDAs or Work for Hire or Non-Compete Agreements in place that could be violated if they came to work with you. If so, you’ll need to have those reviewed by your own lawyer before you bring them on to work with you.

Get agreements signed before work begins.  While it is so very tempting to just “get to work” as quickly as possible, and then worry about getting agreements in place later, doing so could mean you don’t own the work product a contractor creates for you. Or, you could be putting valuable trade secrets at risk, or even training a future competitor. So, always get agreements signed before any work begins.

Be specific.  Your Agreements  – whether employment or independent contractor agreements — should include both non-disclosure provisions and work for hire/trade secret protections, and  should include a specific definition of the confidential information, the obligations of those signing it, any exclusions from confidential information, a specific time period that the NDA covers, and other provisions like which state’s laws will govern the agreement and an attorney’s fee provision if the agreement is breached.

Get professional help.  While there are a number of forms online that include NDA and work for hire language, these boilerplate agreements will not necessarily provide the proper protection for your specific needs.  Consult with us to prepare an agreement that is specific to you and your business, and can be used for all employees, contractors, and other mutual relationships.

Don’t go it alone. We’re here to support you to bring on team members in the best way possible taking into consideration all of the legal, insurance, financial and tax factors that aren’t necessary for you to track.

Developing a trusting relationship with a Family Business Lawyer™ ensures you are making the right legal, insurance, financial and tax (LIFT) decisions for your life and business. 

This article is a service of Liz Smith, Family Business Lawyer™. We offer a complete spectrum of legal services for businesses and can help you make the wisest choices on how to deal with your business throughout life and in the event of your death. We also offer a LIFT Start-Up Session™ or a LIFT Audit for an ongoing business, which includes a review of all the legal, financial, and tax systems you need for your business. Call us today to schedule your appointment at 907-312-5436, or find a time for us to call you. 

The pandemic has caused Americans to change their behavior in a number of different ways, and one of the most positive of these changes is related to estate planning. For the first time since the study’s inception, Caring.com’s 2021 Wills and Estate Planning Study found that young adults are now more likely to have an estate plan than middle-aged adults.

Specifically, the study found that in 2020 only 16% of Americans aged 18 to 34 reported having a will or another estate planning document, but in 2021, that percentage rose by 10 points to 26%—a 63% increase in just one year. Conversely, the 2021 study found that the number of 35 to 54 year-olds with an estate plan actually decreased from 27% in 2020 to 22% in 2021.

Since young adults are traditionally the least likely to engage in estate planning, the study’s results are particularly encouraging for this demographic. And the shift in behavior is largely due to the pandemic, with 45% of the 18 to 34 year-olds surveyed reporting that they were motivated by COVID-19 to get their estate plan started. Yet, it really shouldn’t take a global pandemic to motivate young people to take estate planning seriously.

In fact, all adults over age 18 should have some basic estate planning documents in place. And this is true regardless of how much money you have, whether you are married or single, and whether or not you have kids. On that note, if you are an adult of any age and the pandemic didn’t inspire you to create your estate plan, here are four reasons why you shouldn’t wait another day to get your plan started.

1. Incapacity Leaves Your Vulnerable

Most people assume estate planning only comes into play when they die, but that’s dead wrong—pun fully intended. Although planning for your eventual death is a big part of the process, it’s just as important—if not more so—to plan for your potential incapacity due to a serious accident or illness.

If you become incapacitated without an estate plan, your family would have to petition the court to appoint a guardian or conservator to manage your legal, financial, and medical affairs. This process can be extremely costly, time-consuming, and traumatic for everyone involved. Plus, the court could appoint a family member you’d never want in control of such crucial decisions (just look at what happened to Britney Spears), or the court could appoint a professional guardian, which would give a total stranger nearly complete control of your life and your assets.

As your Personal Family Lawyer®, we can help you put estate planning vehicles in place that grants the person(s) of your choice the immediate authority to make your medical, financial, and legal decisions for you in the event of your incapacity. We can also implement estate planning strategies that provide specific guidelines detailing exactly how you want your medical care to be managed during your incapacity, including critical end-of-life decisions.

While you may not be able to prevent a potential incapacity, meet with us your Personal Family Lawyer® to ensure you have control over how your life and assets will be managed if it ever does occur.

2. Control Who Inherits Your Assets
If you die without an estate plan, the court will decide who inherits your assets, and this can lead to all sorts of problems. Who is entitled to your property is determined by our state’s intestate succession laws, which hinge largely upon whether you are married and if you have children.

Spouses and children are given top priority, followed by your other closest living family members. If you’re single with no children, your assets typically go to your parents and siblings, and then more distant relatives, if you have no living parents or siblings. If no living relatives can be located, your assets go to the state.

Yet you can prevent all of this with proper estate planning and ensure your assets are distributed according to your wishes. Moreover, it’s important to note that state intestacy laws only apply to blood relatives, so your unmarried partners and/or close friends would get nothing if you fail to create a plan. If you want someone outside of your family to inherit your property, having an estate plan is an absolute must.

If you’re married with children and die with no estate plan, you might think things would go fairly smoothly, but that’s not always the case. If you’re married but have children from a previous relationship, for example, the court could give everything to your new spouse and leave your children with nothing. In another instance, you might be estranged from your kids or not trust them with money, but without a plan, state law controls who gets your assets, not you.

Or, in another situation, you and your spouse could both die, leaving assets to children who aren’t old enough to manage them, and requiring a long-term professional guardian to manage assets in ways you would never choose.

Moreover, dying without a plan could also cause your surviving family members to get into an ugly court battle over who should inherit your property. You may think this would never happen to your loved ones, but we see families torn apart by it all the time, even when there’s little financial wealth involved.

As your Personal Family Lawyer®, we can help you create a plan that distributes your assets in the exact manner you wish, taking into account your family dynamics and other contributing factors, so your death won’t be any more painful or expensive for your family than it needs to be.

3. Keep Your Family Out Of Court And Conflict

If you don’t have an estate plan—or if you only have a will (yes, even with a will)—you are forcing your family to go through probate upon your death. Probate is the court process for settling your estate, and even if you have a will, it’s notoriously slow, costly, and public. But with no plan at all, probate can be a total nightmare for your loved ones.

Depending on the complexity of your estate, probate can take months, or even years, to complete. And like most court proceedings, probate can be expensive. In fact, once all of your debts, taxes and court fees have been paid, there might be nothing left for your loved ones to inherit. And if there are any assets left, your family will likely have to pay hefty attorney’s fees and court costs in order to claim them.

Outside of these issues, the most burdensome part of probate is the frustration and anxiety it can cause your loved ones. In addition to grieving your death, planning your funeral, and contacting everyone you’re close with, your family will be stuck dealing with an overloaded court system that can be challenging to navigate even in the best of circumstances. Plus, the entire affair is open to the public, which can make things all the riskier for those you leave behind, especially if the wrong people take an interest in your family’s affairs.

Fortunately, the expense and drama of the court system can be almost totally avoided with proper planning. Using a trust, for example, we can ensure that your assets pass directly to your family upon your death or incapacity, without the need for any court intervention. And as long as you have planned properly, just about everything can happen in the privacy of our office and on your family’s time.

4. Minimize the Mess

Entirely separate from anything to do with court, conflict, or your legal documents, consider the reality of the mess you’ll leave behind if you do nothing. Look around yourself right now, what do you see? Someone would have to deal with all of that, if something happens to you, whether that something is an illness, injury, or death.

Then, imagine that same someone trying to figure out what you own, where it is, and how to access it? That’s the reality of the kind of mess you are subjecting someone you love to deal with if you do not get your affairs in order now.

With a Life and Legacy Plan in place (like the plans we create for our clients), you are minimizing the mess, providing clear instructions, and making it as easy as possible for the people you love to handle things for you, if and when something happens to you.

5. Ensure Your Kids Are Raised By the People You Trust

If you’re the parent of minor children, the most devastating consequence of having no estate plan is what could happen to your kids in the event of your death or incapacity. Without a plan in place naming legal guardians for your kids, it will be left for a judge to decide who cares for your children. And this could cause major heartbreak not only for your children but for your entire family.

You’d like to think that a judge would select the best person to care for your kids, but it doesn’t always work out that way. In fact, the judge could pick someone from your family you’d never want to raise them to adulthood. And if you don’t have any family or the family you do have is deemed unfit, your children could be raised by total strangers.

What’s more, if you have multiple relatives who want to care for your kids, they could end up fighting one another in court over who gets custody. This can get extremely ugly, as otherwise, well-meaning family members fight one another for years, making their lawyers wealthy, while your kids are stuck in the middle.

In light of these facts, if you have minor children, your number-one planning priority should be naming legal guardians to care for your children if anything should happen to you. This is so critical, we’ve developed a comprehensive system called the Kids Protection Plan® that guides you step-by-step through the process of creating the legal documents naming these guardians.

That said, naming legal guardians won’t keep your family out of court, as a judge is always required to finalize the legal naming of guardians in the event of death or incapacity of parents. But if it’s important to you who raises your kids if you can’t, you need to give the judge clear direction—and the Kids Protection Plan® does just that.

Additionally, you need to take steps to keep your kids out of the care of strangers over the immediate term, while the authorities figure out what to do if you’re incapacitated or dead. We handle that in a Kids Protection Plan®, too. And note MOST estate plans—even those created by lawyers—skip over this critical step because most lawyers aren’t well-trained on how to create plans for families with minor children. As a Personal Family Lawyer®, we’ve invested in specialized training to serve families with young children, and we are able to include Kids Protection Plans® with every plan we create.  

Get this process started right now for free by visiting our Kids Protection Plan® website, and then schedule a follow-up visit to put in place other estate planning strategies to ensure your children are fully protected no matter what happens to you.

Stop Making Excuses

While many people said that the pandemic inspired them to see a greater need for creating an estate plan, the 2021 Caring.com study also found that more than one in three Americans still don’t think that estate planning is important—or they haven’t even thought about it at all. But as we’ve outlined here, not having an estate plan can be incredibly traumatic and costly for both you and your loved ones, who will be forced to deal with the mess you’ve left behind.

You simply cannot afford to put off creating your estate plan any longer. As your Personal Family Lawyer®, we will guide you step-by-step through the planning process to ensure you’ve taken all the proper precautions to spare your loved ones from needless stress, conflict, and expense.

However, the biggest benefit you stand to gain from putting a plan in place is the peace of mind that comes from knowing your loved ones will be provided and cared for no matter what happens to you. Don’t wait another day—contact us, your Personal Family Lawyer® right now to schedule an appointment, so you can finally check this urgent task off your to-do list.

This article is a service of Liz Smith, Personal Family Lawyer® in Juneau, Alaska. We don’t just draft documents; we ensure you make informed and empowered decisions about life and death, for yourself and the people you love.  That’s why we offer a Life & Legacy Planning Session,™ during which you will get more financially organized than you’ve ever been before, and make all the best choices for the people you love. You can begin by calling our office today at 907-312-5436 to schedule a Life & Legacy Planning Session and mention this article to find out how to get this $750 session at no charge; or book a time for our team to call you at a time you choose.

A large part of being a successful business owner is knowing how to consciously manage relationships and facilitate conflict when it arises in a healthy and productive way. 

When business owners and managers find themselves in a disagreement or misalignment of expectations, the potential costs are endless. For starters, the energetic drain from the conflict, possible loss of personnel, and of course your reputation as a trustworthy business. 

First and foremost, remember that conflict most often arises because an agreement or process was not properly handled at the start.  It’s important as a business owner that at the beginning of any professional relationship you are creating clear boundaries and expectations. The best way to begin your business relationships is by using an agreement process, and we can support you with that.

Here we’ll take a look at the different types of tactics to use when settling business disputes:

Clarify the Actual Dispute: Ensure you understand the desired outcome the other party seeks for resolution. It is equally important to clarify your own desired outcome. It can be challenging to see what’s actually going on when emotions are high. Speak with a trusted advisor to help you get clarity. 

Offers Without Prejudice: Once you are in the dispute resolution process, be mindful when making offers for resolution. Ensure that you state that your offer is “without prejudice” and with no admission of guilt so that if you do end up having to go to court, the offer cannot prejudice your case.  

Use Alternative Dispute Resolution Models: Going to court is a lose/lose scenario for everyone involved. Be sure you have mediation and arbitration provisions built into every agreement you sign. Resolve matters outside of court, whenever possible. 

Don’t Rely Solely on Your Legal Rights: If you want to avoid going to court—and it’s usually in your best interest to do so— put a good faith effort into finding a mutually beneficial solution on which to agree while still invoking your rights. We can help you with that as we focus on finding resolve in every conflict, by seeking to identify where the respective parties’ needs can be met and matched up as part of our conflict resolution process.

Watch Your Wording: Settlement offers can be complicated. The way an agreement is worded or structured can affect the outcome, especially if that outcome is a financial judgment. Make sure you have a thorough understanding of the terms and conditions in any settlement offer. And never make a settlement offer without having us, your Family Business Lawyer™ strategize and review the wording with you first.

No one wants to end up in a dispute and when we are, it is often to see an outcome where everyone wins. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to reduce your chances of conflict in the future. To start, find a trusted legal professional who will help you put protective measures in place to avoid the most common mistakes businesses make. That’s why a Family Business Lawyer® is there to help you face the challenges of owning a business.  

We help small business owners negotiate settlements and channel their time and energy toward growth and potential instead of putting out fires. We’ll begin by sitting down to discuss how you can implement a robust legal, insurance, financial, and tax system that will streamline your business operations and minimize your risk of encountering contract disputes. Schedule your LIFT Strategy Session with me today.

This article is a service of Liz Smith, Family Business Lawyer™. We offer a complete spectrum of legal services for businesses and can help you make the wisest choices on how to deal with your business throughout life and in the event of your death. We also offer a LIFT Start-Up Session™ or a LIFT Audit for an ongoing business, which includes a review of all the legal, financial, and tax systems you need for your business. Call us today to schedule your appointment at 907-312-5436, or find a time for us to call you. 

A comprehensive estate plan — which we prefer to see as a Life and Legacy Plan — can protect what matters most to you. For many, this means everything you own and everyone you love. 

Obviously, this includes  providing  for the care of your children as an essential piece of your peace of mind. But many parents struggle with including such provisions as naming a legal guardian for their child in their plan. Even the fictional parents in the popular television sitcom Modern Family struggled with this issue in a recent episode. While Jay and his new and much younger wife Gloria agonized and argued about who they should name as a legal guardian for their children, their children were left at risk that if something happened to Jay and Gloria before they decided and properly named guardians in a legal document, a judge would make the decision for them. Not ideal, under any circumstances. 

Take a few minutes to consider right now: if both you and your child’s other parent were to become incapacitated or die right now, who would step forward to care for your child? Would that be who you would want to raise your child, if you could not? Is that who you would want to take care of the financial assets you are leaving behind?

And, what about the short-term? Are your children often left in the care of a babysitter who would have no idea what to do if you didn’t make it home at the end of the evening? If not, even if you have named legal guardians, your child could be taken into the care of strangers if something happens to you, while the authorities figure out what to do.

Unfortunately, even if you have made the hard decisions and worked with a lawyer to name legal guardians in a Will, your kids could still be at risk, because that would not take into account what happens if you become incapacitated, or if your named guardians all live far from your home, and it wouldn’t protect against anyone who may challenge your decisions. The only way to ensure your kids are raised by the people you want, in the way you want, never taken into the care of strangers (even temporarily) and that your kids would never be raised by anyone you wouldn’t want, is by creating a comprehensive Kids Protection Plan®, which only a select few lawyers, like us, are trained to provide. 

If you are ready to take that step, start by sitting down with us. As your Personal Family Lawyer®, we can walk you step by step through creating a comprehensive Kids Protection Plan® that not only names a legal guardian for your child in your Will, but also ensures your kids care is fully provided for, in the short-term and the long-term, and in the event of your incapacity. And, if necessary, we can also ensure anyone you would not want to raise your kids, never could or would.

Working with a trusted Personal Family Lawyer® will ensure your entire family is protected and cared for no matter what. Contact us today to get started! Or, if you’d like to read the best-selling book on legal planning for parents, Wear Clean Underwear: A Fast, Fun, Friendly — and Essential — Guide to Legal Planning for Busy Families, just contact our office and ask us to send it to you as our gift.

This article is a service of Liz Smith, Personal Family Lawyer® in Juneau, Alaska. We don’t just draft documents; we ensure you make informed and empowered decisions about life and death, for yourself and the people you love.  That’s why we offer a Life & Legacy Planning Session,™ during which you will get more financially organized than you’ve ever been before, and make all the best choices for the people you love. You can begin by calling our office today at 907-312-5436 to schedule a Life & Legacy Planning Session and mention this article to find out how to get this $750 session at no charge; or book a time for our team to call you at a time you choose.

As a small business owner, you may be wondering why you need to hire a lawyer to help you run your company. This is especially true today when you can access just about every conceivable legal document online for cheap from the countless online do-it-yourself document services like LegalZoom and Rocket Lawyer.

But here’s the thing: Without the guidance and support of trusted legal counsel, you are likely not aware of all the ways your business is leaking money, putting yourself and your family at risk, and possibly limiting the positive impact you have on the lives of your clients.

Beyond those potential issues, if you are handling all of your company’s legal, insurance, financial, and tax decisions yourself, you’ll likely get overwhelmed by all the necessary pieces required to run a business on a daily basis—crunching numbers, negotiating contracts, dealing with insurance, and preparing your taxes—and something will suffer.

Either you won’t be able to focus on the parts of your business that you truly love—the products, client services, or the sales and marketing—or you will overlook the key legal, insurance, financial, and tax matters affecting your company and this will negatively impact your operation. 

Do Any Of These Scenarios Sound Familiar?

To give you a more concrete idea of what you are missing by not having a Family Business Lawyer™ on your team, consider whether or not you have experienced any of the following issues with your business:

• Incredible business opportunities slip through the cracks because you can’t make decisions fast enough. 
• It takes too long to get paid, and your outstanding receivables are driving you crazy and impacting your ability to generate consistent revenue.
• You want to take your business to the next level, but you keep getting stuck in situations that you aren’t sure how to handle.
• Your boundaries have been violated one too many times by clients because you didn’t clarify exactly what the terms of the deal were. 
• You are ready to scale your company, but you aren’t sure if your business has the resources you need to achieve sustainable growth.
• Trying to personally manage all of the legal, insurance, financial, and tax (LIFT) aspects of your business are draining your energy and creativity, which impedes your ability to keep the money flowing and your clients happy.

Have Your Very Own In-House Legal Counsel

Most small business owners don’t think they need to hire a lawyer, and perhaps this is why roughly half of all businesses fail within the first five years of operation. Yet, the most successful companies wouldn’t dream of not having a lawyer on their team.

These companies typically employ one or more in-house lawyers, who proactively identify missed opportunities for the company, spot potential risks, create plans to mitigate risks and build on opportunities. Case in point: Warren Buffett doesn’t make a single business move without consulting with his personal lawyer, Charlie Munger. 

Why? Because Charlie’s wisdom combined with his legal acumen, experience, and ethics are invaluable in helping Warren achieve his professional goals with ease.

Even if you don’t run a big company, your company still deserves—and frankly requires—this kind of relationship in order to reach its full potential and for you to make wise decisions that lead to early thriving. And by working with us, your Family Business Lawyer™, you will have your very own trusted in-house legal counsel in your corner.

Not All Lawyers Are Created Equal
Another reason why you may be hesitant to hire a Family Business Lawyer™ is that you may have worked with other lawyers in the past who failed to provide the level of service we offer. Most lawyers have been taught that the legal profession is all about forms, documents, and templates, most of which are readily available online for those looking to take the do-it-yourself route. 

Yet, lawyers who simply provide standard documents and forms on a one-off basis without truly getting to know you, your life, and your business are simply inexperienced. The services they offer are not what we offer. Your Family Business Lawyer™ focuses on counseling, consulting, and “consigliere-ing” over creating documents—document creation simply becomes a useful byproduct of our professional relationship.

10 Reasons Why Your Business Needs a Family Business Lawyer™

To give you a better idea of what a relationship with a Family Business Lawyer™ entails, here are 10 things you can expect when you hire us to support your company:

1. Your Family Business Lawyer™ is a perfect combination of trusted advisor, problem solver, keeper of secrets, and deep listener.

2. Your Family Business Lawyer™ will offer you trusted advice to help you make the tough decisions that are required daily in your role as your company’s leader.

3. Your Family Business Lawyer™ will ensure you keep the money you make and are prepared to earn even more revenue, freeing you up to stay focused on the money-making aspects of your job that you truly enjoy. 

4. Your Family Business Lawyer™ will help you avoid common risks and pitfalls, handle sticky situations, and effectively tend to the parts of your business that are especially challenging, particularly those involving the legal, insurance, financial, and tax (LIFT) components of your business.

5. Your Family Business Lawyer™ will help you create, maintain, and honor your professional and personal boundaries. 

6. Your Family Business Lawyer™ will help you set clear expectations and collect on promises made to you, including money that’s owed to your business.

7. Your Family Business Lawyer™ will support you to incorporate the systems, processes, and technology to ensure your business is positioned properly for rapid, sustainable growth.

8. Your Family Business Lawyer™ will help you build an unshakable legal, insurance, financial, and tax (LIFT) foundation for your business, so you’ll never have to live in fear, worry, or doubt about your company’s survival again.

9. Your Family Business Lawyer™ will provide you with confidence about your business’s long-term success, so you can devote all of your energy and passion to growing your business into something truly meaningful for yourself, your clients, and your family.

10. Your Family Business Lawyer™ will help you put in place an effective estate plan, so you can rest assured that your business will survive and thrive even if you become incapacitated or after you die. 

Take Your Business To The Next Level

If you are ready to take your business to the next level and reach goals you previously thought were unattainable, meet with your Family Business Lawyer™. Our services go far beyond simply creating legal agreements and other documents for your business and then never seeing you again.

In fact, as your Family Business Lawyer™, we will develop a relationship with you that lasts not only for your lifetime but for the lifetime of your business and your successor, if that’s your wish. With our trusted guidance and support, your business will continue to grow and thrive for generations to come. Contact us today to learn more.

This article is a service of Liz Smith, Family Business Lawyer™. We offer a complete spectrum of legal services for businesses and can help you make the wisest choices on how to deal with your business throughout life and in the event of your death. We also offer a LIFT Start-Up Session™ or a LIFT Audit for an ongoing business, which includes a review of all the legal, financial, and tax systems you need for your business. Call us today to schedule your appointment at 907-312-5436, or find a time for us to call you. 

Even if you put a totally solid estate plan in place, it can turn out to be worthless for the people you love if it’s not regularly updated. 

Estate planning is not a one-and-done type of deal—your plan should continuously evolve along with your life circumstances and other changing conditions, such as your assets and the law. 

No matter who you are, your life will inevitably change: families change, laws change, assets change, and goals change. In the absence of any major life events, we recommend reviewing your estate plan annually to make sure its terms are up to date.

Additionally, there are several common life events that require you to immediately update your plan—that is, if you want it to actually work and keep your loved ones out of court and out of conflict. With this in mind, if any of the following events occur, contact us, your Personal Family Lawyer® right away to amend your plan.

1) You get married: Marriage not only changes your relationship status; it changes your legal status. Regardless of whether it’s your first marriage or fourth, you must take the proper steps to ensure your estate plan properly reflects your current wishes and needs.

After tying the knot, some of your most pressing concerns include naming your new spouse as a beneficiary on your insurance policies and retirement accounts, granting him or her medical power of attorney and/or durable financial power of attorney (if that’s your wish), and adding him or her to your will and/or trust.

2) You get divorced: Since divorce can be one of the most stressful life events, estate planning often gets overshadowed by the other dramatic changes happening. But failing to update your plan for divorce can have terrible consequences.

Once divorce proceedings start, you’ll need to ensure your future ex is no longer eligible to receive any of your assets or make financial and medical decisions on your behalf—unless that’s your wish. Once the divorce is finalized and your property is divided, you’ll need to adjust your planning to match your new asset profile and living situation.

3) You give birth or adopt: Welcoming a new addition to your family can be a joyous occasion, but it also demands entirely new levels of planning and responsibility. At the top of your to-do list should be legally naming both long and short-term guardians for your child. Our Kids Protection Plan offers everything you need to complete this process for free right now.

Once you’ve named guardians, consider putting estate planning vehicles, such as a revocable living trust, in place for your kids. These planning tools can make certain the assets you want your child to inherit will be passed on in the most effective and beneficial way possible for everyone involved. Consult with your Personal Family Lawyer® to determine which planning strategies are best suited for your family situation.

4) A loved one dies: The death of a family member, partner, or close friend can have serious consequences for both your life and estate plan. If the person was included in your plan, you need to update it accordingly to fill any gaps his or her absence creates. From naming new beneficiaries, executors, and guardians to identifying new heirs to receive assets allocated to the deceased, make sure you address all voids the death creates as soon as possible.

5) You get seriously ill or injured: As with death, illness and injury are an unavoidable part of life. If you’ve been diagnosed with a serious illness or are involved in a life-changing accident, you may want to review the people you’ve chosen to handle your healthcare decisions as well as how those decisions should be made. The person you want to serve as your healthcare proxy can change with time, so be sure your plan reflects your current wishes.

6) You relocate to a new state: Since estate planning laws can vary widely from state to state, if you move to a different state, you’ll need to review and/or revise your plan to comply with your new home’s legal requirements. Some of these laws can be incredibly complex, so consult with us to make certain your plan will still work exactly as you desire in your new location.

7) Your assets or liabilities change significantly: Whenever your estate’s value dramatically increases or decreases, you should revisit your estate plan to ensure it still offers the maximum protection and benefits for yourself and your loved ones. Whether you inherit a fortune, take out a new loan, close your business, or change your investment portfolio, your estate plan should be adjusted accordingly.

8) You plan to buy or sell a business: If you plan to sell a business, you can engage in estate planning strategies to avoid almost all of your capital gains taxes, if you revisit your estate plan ahead of time. And, of course, if you are buying a business, you’ll want to ensure your plan is updated to take into account your succession plans for the new business. 

For every business you own, you should consider creating a buy-sell agreement and/or a business succession plan to protect both your business and your family in case something happens to you. In your estate plan, you can not only decide who will take over your role as the company’s owner should something happen to you, but you can also provide him or her with a road map for how the business should be run in your absence by creating a comprehensive business succession plan.

At the same time, you should consult with your Personal Family Lawyer® to take advantage of the numerous tax-savings opportunities that may be available when you buy or sell your business. The tax laws are constantly changing, so you should consult with us to amend your estate plan to achieve the maximum level of tax savings possible in light of the latest changes to the tax code.

A Common Mistake

Outside of not creating any estate plan at all, one of the most common planning mistakes we encounter is when we get called by the loved ones of someone who has become incapacitated or died with a plan that no longer works because it has not been properly updated. Unfortunately, once something happens to you, it’s too late to adjust your plan, and the loved ones you leave behind are forced to deal with the aftermath.

Keeping your estate plan updated is so important, we’ve created proprietary systems designed to ensure these changes are made for all of our clients, so you don’t need to worry about whether you’ve overlooked anything like your family, the law, and your assets change over time. Be sure to ask us about these systems during your visit.

Furthermore, because your plan is designed to protect and provide for your loved ones in the event of your death or incapacity, as your Personal Family Lawyer®, we’re not just here to serve you—we’re here to serve your entire family. We take the time to get to know your family members and include them in the planning process, so everyone affected by your plan is well-aware of what your latest planning strategies are and why you made the choices you did, along with knowing exactly what they need to do if something happens to you.

For The Love of Your Family

As your Personal Family Lawyer®, our estate planning services go far beyond simply creating documents and then never seeing you again. We develop a relationship with you and your family that lasts not only for your lifetime but for the lifetime of your children and their children if that’s your wish.

Plus, we support you in not only creating a plan that keeps your family out of court and out of conflict in the event of your death or incapacity, but we will also ensure that your plan is regularly updated to make certain that it works and is there for your family when you cannot be. Contact us today to get started.

This article is a service of Liz Smith, Personal Family Lawyer® in Juneau, Alaska. We don’t just draft documents; we ensure you make informed and empowered decisions about life and death, for yourself and the people you love.  That’s why we offer a Life & Legacy Planning Session,™ during which you will get more financially organized than you’ve ever been before, and make all the best choices for the people you love. You can begin by calling our office today at 907-312-5436 to schedule a Life & Legacy Planning Session and mention this article to find out how to get this $750 session at no charge; or book a time for our team to call you at a time you choose.

It seems that everywhere you look, a new start-up is trying to make it big with a game-changing idea. But it’s only the ones that can turn that idea into reality that reach business success. Too many start-ups fail to make the transition from idea to execution or encounter major setbacks along the way. In the midst of developing your growing start-up, don’t make the common mistake of disregarding tedious, but vital tasks such as making sure all your legal, insurance, financial, and tax ducks are in a row. 

Establishing a solid legal system can help you avoid costly mistakes and save time and stress down the road. Many entrepreneurs struggle with developing such systems because they don’t foresee the most common mistakes start-ups make. Avoiding these only takes a little self-awareness and planning, so read on to learn how to sidestep the five biggest legal mistakes a start-up can make.

1.      Be strategic when creating your entity. Think about your long-term goals, and choose an entity that  matches up. Have your eye on major growth and raising capital? Consider a Delaware C-Corporation, which could set you up for venture capital. Looking for tax advantages? Look into the advantages of an S-Corporation structure that will allow you to minimize your payroll taxes by splitting your personal pay between salary and distributions. 

And, while you can always convert your entity, later on, doing it right the first time will save you time and money. When you talk with a lawyer about the best form of entity, make sure your lawyer doesn’t just suggest a one-size fits all solution, but actually understands the details of your business now and where you want to grow in the future.

2.      Be clear with co-founders. Don’t wait until your business begins to make a profit to begin discussing what each founder is worth. Confront the elephant in the room (i.e. money and position) and be clear on rights, decision-making authority, and equity from the get-go. A well-drafted operating agreement or shareholder agreement is key here. The agreement process itself can surface potential conflicts in advance, and confirm whether you and your co-founders are truly in alignment before big investments of time and money are made.

3.      Protect your intellectual property. It’s essential to establish ironclad protections for the intellectual property that impacts your business’s future value. Think beyond just patents and trademarks; consider having founders, employees and third-party developers sign intellectual property rights agreements so you retain the value they may create while working for you.

4.      Develop a robust set of contract templates. You will thank yourself later for establishing clear guidelines and minimizing your liabilities in writing. Online legal document drafting services are one size fits all; your business will be best served by developing a set of templates that meets your business’s unique needs.

5.      Don’t overlook the importance of working with a lawyer. Working with a trusted lawyer can help you avoid all the mistakes above plus countless others you will likely make as you grow your start-up. A lawyer who also works as a creative strategic advisor, as we do, will guide you to not just avoid legal mistakes, but set your business up with the right legal, insurance, financial, and tax systems for a lifetime of business success.  

Just because you’re a start-up doesn’t mean you have to be naive. If you are serious about developing a solid legal foundation for your start-up, begin by sitting down with us. As your Family Business Lawyer®, we can help you identify your liabilities, mitigate any legal risks and get you on the right track for success. This will allow you the freedom and energy to focus on growing your business.  Schedule your LIFT Strategy Session with me today to get started.

This article is a service of Liz Smith, Family Business Lawyer™. We offer a complete spectrum of legal services for businesses and can help you make the wisest choices on how to deal with your business throughout life and in the event of your death. We also offer a LIFT Start-Up Session™ or a LIFT Audit for an ongoing business, which includes a review of all the legal, financial, and tax systems you need for your business. Call us today to schedule your appointment at 907-312-5436, or find a time for us to call you. 

Yours, mine and ours … in today’s modern family, it’s oh so common. The blended family is the product of 2nd (or more) marriages, in which one or more of the parties comes with children from a prior marriage. And then, they may even go on to have children together.

If you have or are part of a blended family, it’s important to understand how estate planning could be exactly what you need to keep your family out of conflict and in love, both during life, in the event of incapacity, and when one or more of the senior generation (read: parents) dies. The most important step you can take right now? Setting up a will or trust that reflects your unique family situation.

Let’s begin with understanding where potential conflicts could arise when you have a blended family.

Why Blended Families Need a Will or Trust

If you have children from a prior marriage, and you become incapacitated or die, leaving everything to your new spouse or partner, there is almost certain to be some conflict (whether spoken or not) between your children and new spouse. Your children may feel unloved, forgotten or resentful.

You may think that this can be avoided by leaving everything to your new spouse or partner, and then on their death, to your children. But this too could set up a scenario where your children feel the need to monitor your spouse/partner’s use of your assets, during their life. And that may not be what you want.

Conversely, you may have a partner or spouse that you have not legally planned for, who you would want to inherit some or all of your assets. But, as things stand right now, your entire estate may go to your children from a prior marriage. This could create a reality where your current partner even gets kicked out of the house you share if something happens to you before your plan is updated.

How a Trust Protects Both Your New Spouse and Your Children

You can avoid all of this (and even use the estate planning process to build stronger bonds with those you love) by having clear planning in place that has been discussed with your children and your new spouse or partner. We facilitate this as part of the planning process for all blended families.

If you are the child of a parent who has remarried or re-partnered, after a divorce or death, of your other parent, you may want to bring these issues to your parent’s attention.

Get Your Blended Family Estate Plan Started

If you are ready to create a well-thought-out estate plan for your blended family, start by sitting down with us, your Personal Family Lawyer®. During your Life & Legacy Planning Session™, we can help you plan for the needs of your unique family and ensure everything and everyone you love is protected and provided for as you wish – including you. Our estate planning process guides you to protect and preserve what matters most. Before the session, we’ll send you a Family Wealth Inventory and Assessment to complete that will support your thinking on what you own, what’s most important to you, and what you can do to ensure your family is taken care of. You can schedule your Family Wealth Planning Session™ online with us or give us a call if you have any questions. We’re happy to help!

This article is a service of Liz Smith, Personal Family Lawyer® in Juneau, Alaska. We don’t just draft documents; we ensure you make informed and empowered decisions about life and death, for yourself and the people you love. That’s why we offer a Life & Legacy Planning Session,™ during which you will get more financially organized than you’ve ever been before, and make all the best choices for the people you love. You can begin by calling our office today at 907-312-5436 to schedule a Life & Legacy Planning Session and mention this article to find out how to get this $750 session at no charge; or book a time for our team to call you at a time you choose.

As with so many things in life, some of the same qualities that help small businesses succeed can also lead to their demise. Fortunately, much of that risk can be lessened through operational excellence.

For example, the owners and managers of small businesses often know each other before they go into business together. Sometimes, they’re even related. Preexisting relationships can help propel small businesses forward, especially when there are high levels of trust and competence.

Unfortunately, however, familiarity is sometimes accompanied by a lax attitude toward operational formalities. Owners and managers may skimp in critical areas such as:

• Governing documents such as articles of incorporation, partnership agreements, and bylaws;
• Solid or regular auditing and accounting practices; and
• Shareholder meetings and minutes.

In worst-case scenarios, business and personal funds are commingled or used for improper purposes.

The good news is that if you are just starting out, it is easy to avoid all of these issues and the accompanying potential for lawsuits and tax problems. As your Family Business Lawyer®, we can provide trusted advice and help position a small business in the most favorable circumstances for that unique business.

Here are some examples of the services a trusted legal advisor can provide:

• Assistance in identifying recordkeeping products and in establishing high quality recordkeeping practices;
• Helping owners understand the potential consequences of a lack of proper documentation;
• Ensuring that clients know the deadlines for business and tax filings; and
• Explaining the importance of keeping personal and business finances separate.

Perhaps most importantly, a skilled business lawyer can help you structure your operational strategies properly. This can be invaluable in helping your business avoid pitfalls and liabilities along the path toward success. We like to begin with getting to know your whole business, not just the legal side; but, also truly understanding your revenue model, how it serves your life, your team, and your clients. Then, we can advise you on the best strategies for a business that meets not just your business objectives but serves your life as well. 

Schedule your LIFT Strategy Session with us today to get started!

This article is a service of Liz Smith, Family Business Lawyer™. We offer a complete spectrum of legal services for businesses and can help you make the wisest choices on how to deal with your business throughout life and in the event of your death. We also offer a LIFT Start-Up Session™ or a LIFT Audit for an ongoing business, which includes a review of all the legal, financial, and tax systems you need for your business. Call us today to schedule your appointment at 907-312-5436, or find a time for us to call you. 

When you hear the words, “trust fund,” do you conjure up images of stately mansions and party yachts? A trust fund – or trust – is actually a great estate planning tool for many people with a wide range of incomes who want to accomplish a specific purpose with their money.

Simply put, a trust is just a vehicle used to transfer assets, and trusts are especially useful for parents of minor children as well as those who wish to spare their beneficiaries the hassle of going to Court in the event of their incapacity or death.

And why would you want to keep your family out of court (known as avoiding probate)?

Perhaps you’d like to keep private the details of the assets you are leaving your heirs. Leaving assets via a will that must go through probate to go into effect makes your estate a matter of public record. A trust is a private document and distributes assets upon your death without the need for probate, which can tie up assets for a long period of time in court.

The court process can take longer than is necessary and keep your family from getting access to your assets as quickly as they want or need them.

If you have minor children, you need to create a trust in order to leave your assets to them since minors cannot inherit directly. You will want to name a trustee to manage those assets for your children. Even if your children are adults, a trust can help protect assets you leave for them from creditors, legal judgments, divorce, or even their poor money management habits.

You can even establish a trust for yourself in case you become incapacitated and cannot manage your own finances at some future time. The trust assets are managed by a successor trustee, which avoids the need for a court-appointed conservator if you become incapacitated.

Trusts are also wonderful tools for those who are members of a blended family. If you are remarried and have children from a previous marriage, you can provide for your current spouse while ensuring your assets pass to your children from another marriage using a by-pass trust. 

With this kind of trust, the assets will pass to your children free of estate tax upon the death of your surviving spouse.

As you can see, there are many reasons to create a trust, and being rich isn’t necessarily one of them. You can learn more about how a trust might benefit you or your family by scheduling a Family Wealth Planning Session™, where we can identify the best strategies that are unique to you and your family.

This article is a service of Liz Smith, Personal Family Lawyer® in Juneau, Alaska. We don’t just draft documents; we ensure you make informed and empowered decisions about life and death, for yourself and the people you love.  That’s why we offer a Life & Legacy Planning Session,™ during which you will get more financially organized than you’ve ever been before, and make all the best choices for the people you love. You can begin by calling our office today at 907-312-5436 to schedule a Life & Legacy Planning Session and mention this article to find out how to get this $750 session at no charge; or book a time for our team to call you at a time you choose.