Resource Search

When done well, a trustee’s service can have a profoundly positive impact on a family; when done poorly, a trustee’s service can create or exacerbate fissures within a family, dissipate family wealth, create personal liability for the trustee, and create a public spectacle that sullies the family’s good name and reputation. For key employees in family offices, service as a trustee is sometimes part of the job description. The trustee should adhere to the best practices that will serve the family well, fulfill the duties to the beneficiaries, and minimize the personal risks.

Millennials and ultra-high net worth individuals are increasingly seeking to connect with and positively change their communities through investing, and the way capital is currently deployed can no longer support this need. Impact investing, a subset of social finance, represents a paradigm shift, allocating capital for measurable social and environmental impact while still seeking financial returns. It focuses on maximizing stakeholder value rather than concentrating exclusively on shareholder value—in essence, to “do well by doing good.”

As the nation’s population grows older and more Americans are living longer, cognitive impairment of an individual is likely to become a challenge for more and more families. When a family member is diagnosed with conditions such as dementia or Alzheimer’s, it may already be too late to have an up-to-date estate plan in place. The ramifications can be dramatic not just today, but for generations to come. The risk that cognitive challenges will create obstacles for estate planning later in life underlines the value of starting the process early.

Proposed regulations covering the valuation of family controlled entities for transfer tax purposes—12 years in the making—were published by the IRS on August 4, 2016. If newly proposed IRS Regulations are finalized in their current form, nearly all valuation discounts on family controlled entities will be eliminated. Given the December 1st public hearing date on the proposed regulations, there is a brief window of opportunity for families to transfer business and investment assets at a reduced gift tax cost. Now is the time to act.

Recently the IRS released proposed regulations under Chapter 14 of the Internal Revenue Code that would severely limit—if not eliminate—the application of valuation discounts, including lack of marketability and minority discounts, to interests in closely held family entities for gift, estate, and generation-skipping transfer tax purposes. If finalized in their current form, the proposed regulations will have a significant impact on future estate planning for high net worth individuals and, potentially, on estate plans which were recently put into place.

The long-awaited and much-speculated about regulations to Section 2704 were issued in early August 2016. As issued, the proposed regulations expand the scope and reach of section 2704 to preclude use of various structural techniques to artificially suppress the value of interests in entities transferred by taxpayers or owned by them at death. The IRS is likely to receive a great deal of commentary from the estate planning and valuation communities, respectively. Therefore, the final form of these regulations is difficult to predict at best.

Current valuation methodology for gift and estate tax purposes often includes discounts for privately owned businesses. Modern estate planning sometimes includes packaging investments into a family-owned investment pool that would be subject to discounting, which can and have ranged from 15 to 50 percent. The Department of Treasury has proposed new regulations that are likely to eliminate almost all valuation discounts in a family business setting. A public hearing will be held on December 1, 2016.

For years, owners of family-controlled companies have taken advantage of applicable valuation discounts to advance their objectives in transferring wealth and company ownership to future generations in a tax efficient manner. On August 2, the Treasury Department issued proposed regulations under Internal Revenue Code Section 2704 to curb the use of valuation discounts in such circumstances. A public hearing on the proposed regulations has been scheduled for December 1, 2016.

When you think about family dynamics, very often there’s a lack of that home team concept and feeling of unity. Establishing that home team within your family early on offers the greatest opportunity for generational success and healthy family governance. The need to prepare the family for the future is particularly important for families that own and run a family business which they hope to pass down to future generations. A five-step process can help families build their home team advantage.

Two harsh realities threaten to compromise most investment objectives: first, markets are unpredictable and, second, investors can sometimes be their own worst enemies. A well-diversified portfolio seeks the highest potential return while striving to manage a given level of volatility. Goals, markets, and circumstances are all fluid; even a well-diversified portfolio is only as good as it is current, so be sure to periodically rebalance your portfolio. As with any endeavor, the prospects for success improve with a plan.