Business Creation and Succession Planning Involves Balancing the Business Needs of the Present While Focusing on Effective Wealth Transfer By:

• Creating a Business Entity That is Uniquely Tailored to the Client's Goals and Dreams
• Analyzing Business and Estate Planning Data in Conjunction with Other Advisors
• Developing Business Tax Strategies
• Ensure Successful Implementation of the Final Plan

Business Planning:
As more Americans become entrepreneurs, they've discovered that wise business planning is essential to their success today and their financial security tomorrow. J.S. Burton can help you achieve your goals, whether your business is a one-person operation or a growing business looking for the best way to structure your corporation.

Lawsuit & Asset Protection:
In today's litigious world, you've never faced greater threat from predators who will try to use the legal system to deprive you of your life's work. These legal battles can be devastating and, even if you prevail, can cost you everything you've taken a lifetime to build. J.S. Burton can help with strategies for safeguarding your business assets.

Business Trusts:

Holding Real Estate in a business trust can provide optimal asset protection for multiple properties under ONE document. Generally, the document is comprised of separate and distinct "series" or "classes" of ownership interests. Each series is like a sub-trust within the trust, and each holds the separate assets and liabilities assigned to that series. The key advantage of this structure is that liability is "quarantined" from the assets in the other series and from the trust as a whole. This means that any claims that arise from the ownership of an individual property (e.g. a tenant suing you as the landlord) cannot normally be satisfied from assets outside that series. Properly structured, a single legal entity holds multiple properties, each protected from liability as though each property were held in its own, individual legal entity. The Business Trust essentially does away with the need to form numerous limited liability companies to protect more than one piece of real estate. 

Buy-Sell Agreements:

A “buy-sell” agreement is perhaps the most important document in outlining the relative roles and rights of business ‘partners”, insuring smooth relations over a long period of time and attempting to maximize long term personal and business planning strategies. A buy-sell agreement is a contracted agreement between the owners of the business, intended to protect the business, which outlines the measures to be taken in the event that one of them dies or there are other changes or desired changes in ownership of the business.

Buy-sell agreements are frequently discussed in the context of a corporation. However, they are equally applicable to other forms of business enterprises such as limited liability companies and limited partnerships. In this article we will refer to these as “entity” and refer to the shares or partnership interest as the “ownership interest”. This article provides an overview of buy-sell agreements. It is not intended to be exhaustive, but only provide the basic purposes and provisions of such agreements.

A buy-sell agreement is an agreement between the owners of a business for purchase of each others interest in the business, the purchase of which is triggered in the event of the owner’s death, disability, retirement, withdrawal from the business or other events

Two Popular Types of Corporate Structures:

Family Limited Partnerships:
A Partnership between two or more family members designed for a business purpose. This entity can help you meet such goals as tax savings, protection from lawsuits and savings on estate taxes. 

Limited Liability Companies:
An entity formed by one or more persons for a business purpose. Tax-advantaged status and liability protection are the hallmarks of this legal tool and are well suited to hold and protect real estate.