WHAT WILL THE AUDIENCE LEARN?
Our audience will learn the nuts and bolts of having a legally sound business, along with understanding some of the estate planning factors to consider when leaving their business to a family member or employee.
EPISODE SUMMARY:
“Estate Planning For Business Owners.”
With business law / estate planning attorney Len Garza, Founding Attorney at the GARZA law firm.
When a business owner plans to leave their business to a relative or a close employee as part of their estate, issues of estate planning overlap with tenets of business law. What steps do business owners need to take, in order to plan for succession of a sound business with a solid legal foundation?
On the next episode of Employment Law Today, join Corporate Law / Estate Planning Attorney Len Garza, and myself when we discuss the nuts and bolts of having a legally sound business, and the estate planning factors to consider when bequeathing one’s business to a family member or employee.
Tune in for this informative conversation at TalkRadio.nyc
By Segment
SEGMENT 1
0:40 – 15:00 – Eric welcomes his guest, Len Garza, corporate law / estate planning attorney. He is founding attorney at the GARZA law firm. His firm focuses on protecting the personal and business assets of business owners and other individuals and families. Len enjoys educating his community and guiding business owners and their families to build a path of protecting generational wealth. Garza talks about how passionate he is about helping people and how he can make the greatest impact with the particular skills he has. He’s been practicing law for a little over 15 years. When he started out, he was in court as a business litigator maily in New York and New Jersey. After this long journey, he knew this wasn’t the right match for him. He says that he was in court helping businesses where the relationships went bad in situations like breach of contract and more. He was interested in how these issues can be avoided. Garza talks about his passion for wanting to help businesses in these aspects before these litigations occur. He also mentions finding his passion for estate planning.
SEGMENT 2
17:13 – 29:54 – Eric asks Garza about key business law basics he believes a company needs to have in place in order for them to be ready for a succession or someone to take over. Garza says that he feels like some of these things are easily missed. When working with companies he says he wants to take a look at or audit who they are as a business. He looks at how they are structured and what kind of entity they are. He talks about some companies not knowing what kind of entity they are, though the law will still assign you a characteristic. In this case, Garza says that the law assigns you what is called a sole proprietorship. The pros is that you don’t have to file anything in the state or maybe not have to pay some fees, but the con is that there is no liability protection. He emphasizes how business is risky. He says that so many business owners that are sophisticated in their field are very good at what they do, but for legal ramifications, there’s a blindside. Garza also mentions looking at your equity and how it is split especially if you have partners. He talks about the complexity of having a partnership and what to pay attention to. Garza and Eric talk about protecting assets and having agreements and more written down for clear communication.
SEGMENT 3
32:11 – 45:36 – Eric and Garza discuss estate planning considerations that a business owner should take into account when leaving it to an employee, partner or family member. Garza says that he sees a lot of assumptions that business owners make. He says the law looks at what are the intents of the contract made and the people involved. It’s important to have these documents for a court to look through because if not, the court will look at what the law says. He gives an example. In his example, he says, Allison is a star employee and the business owner decides to promote her to COO. After the business owner passes away, she gets a lawyer. Though the lawyer does not have documents to look at that confirms and clearly states her succession. She is nowhere mentioned in the operating agreement. In this case, there’s a less direct path. He also mentions the possibility in this scenario of whether the business owner had no shares and no documents. Under the law of most states, the business would go to his wife. A more complicated situation occurs because she’s running a business with very little knowledge. This is one of many issues that can be better handled when things are outlined in agreements.
SEGMENT 4
47:41 – 55:52 – Garza talks about unique approaches his firm takes and how they are different. He mentions really getting to know the client, their history, personal situation and family. He mentions how it takes time and interest. He talks about the difficulty of this when he was practicing in a bigger law firm. The workload is bigger and so it was easy for things to become transactional where the clients were just a number. He mentions not wanting this because there wasn’t time for building a relationship with the client. In his firm, he and his attorneys are able to talk and listen as well as craft solutions specifically for their situations. He also mentions being flexible with their time, availability, and responsiveness. Garza says that his firm is a virtual one, but they are primarily based in the Northeast. To get in touch with Len Garza and his website is www.lgarzalaw.com. You can find videos and educational articles and direct contact information as well.
About Employment Law Today
Helping Business With Employment Law Issues.
For many business owners, it can be overwhelming to keep up and comply with the federal and state labor and employment laws that govern how they run their business. With the COVID-19 pandemic, there are new laws and regulations regarding hiring, firing, and workplace practices and protocols — all of which can increase business owners’ anxieties about regaining traction or thriving again. On my weekly show, we will be discussing the most common employment law related questions and challenges that business owners have been facing in these uncertain times.
The show will have three main goals: (1) to inform businesses about employment law updates, (2) to inspire businesses by giving them the tools to move forward, and (3) to demonstrate how some business owners have overcome their employment law problems, walked through the challenges imposed by this pandemic, and have taken steps to regain traction during the reopening phases of this pandemic.
Our guests will include professionals who advise businesses from an H.R., legal, and financial perspective, along with thriving business owners who will share their experiences and insights into running a successful company while complying with labor and employment law mandates during COVID-19.