Business PLanning

Based on my experience, having an idea for a business is quite different from making it work. It takes the idea, or product, to start that process.  

Once you have that idea, you need to get the appropriate advice to move forward with it to achieve a goal that leads to ultimate success.  That means deciding the type of entity you need from a legal or tax perspective, reviewing the lease/contract that you may need for a physical location, examining stock and ownership issues, partnership issues, financing, use of UCCC filings, and then making sure that the business works. 

Historically, most people don’t realize that there were dozens of individuals that developed “horseless carriages,” into the worldwide automobile/truck industry that we have today. Only one American, Henry Ford, developed the structure to control his company:  first, by developing a wholly owned financing subsidiary to enable working class members to buy his vehicles, and secondly, and more importantly, by establishing a separate stock classification that only allowed he and his immediate family to control the company.  These two innovations preserved his vision, provided money for expansion, and enabled his company to remain under his family’s control since its inception.

Nobody should suggest that business planning needs to be as complex as Mr. Ford’s, but having a competent attorney advise you while you establish your business is a very strategic, beneficial thing to do.

Tax Review

A business’ choice of entity makes a big difference in its profitability.  Until last year, if one chose to be a “C corporation,” the applicable tax rate on its income could be as high as 33%.  Once the Trump tax bill passed last December, that rate was reduced to the low 20% range.

Incorporating as a subchapter S, or establishing an LLC type entity, created a major tax advantage for a start-up entity under the older tax code.  Now that the Trump tax bill has passed, it takes a more thoughtful approach to that choice of entity. Our firm can assist you in these decisions.

Formation & Incorporation

As indicated above, our office can assist you with incorporating your business into the appropriate entity can have longer term good implications.  The choice of entity is best made with an independent, objective examination by a qualified professional, without generalizations.

Heirship & Intestacy | Charitable donations | Will Packages | Medical durable powers of attorney | Advance medical directives | Living Wills | Last Wills & Trust Provisions | Colorado Probate Process | Colorado Probate Estate | Financial Powers of Attorney

Most individuals, or families, accumulate assets over their lifetimes.  It is a measure of the individual’s personal worth and values that these assets be distributed in the manner that that individual, or family, wants.  In Colorado, without a will, those assets are automatically distributed by mathematical formula, without regard to your desires, or your individual family’s needs.

It is estimated that only about 15% of individuals ever “get around” to completing a last will.  Not having a will means that the deceased’s non-assigned assets are gathered for the benefit of creditors first, and then distributed by statutory formula.  Your nearest relatives: spouse, children, and parents, are the ones who get the benefit of a will.

However, it is your slightly more distant relatives: cousins, sisters, brothers (estranged or not) that most often create challenges during the administration.  A well written will prevents these distant relatives from inheriting your assets (unless you want them to!) or creating a divisive, contested probate proceeding.

Our office ensures that your estate is managed by completing a last will & testament, durable medical power of attorney and living will as one package on your behalf.

A financial power of attorney is a statutory authorized document that enables a trusted individual, or fiduciary, to make financial decisions on your behalf when you are unable to do so. The designated person, now named “agent,” only has the authority that you specifically confer upon her/him within the document.

Because of the nature of this document, our office does not always include it within our regular “will package.” We discuss the implications of this document fully before recommending it within your planning.

A durable medical power of attorney is essential.  This document gives a person who is mentally competent when s/he signs it, the opportunity to designate another trusted person to make medical decisions on her/his behalf when you are not able to do so.

A Durable Medical Power of Attorney, coupled with an Advance Medical Directive (“Living Will”), enables that trusted person to disconnect life support when you either have a terminal medical condition OR are in a persistent vegetative state.

As early as the 1990s, the governmental agency in charge of Medicare/Medicaid expenses, the Health Care Finance Administration, examined medical records of individuals who were hospitalized in their final illness to determine how much money was spent on medical care when the individual had a durable medical power of attorney/living will and those who did not.  The HCFA’s finding: those people who had the power of attorney/living will spent from $60,000 to $95,000 less -- on average -- than those who did not.

Thus, having these documents will enable your heirs/beneficiaries to keep more money than not having them completed.

Real Estate Contracts | Promissory Notes | Consulting | Subcontractors | Partnerships | LLC Management Agreements | Commercial & Residential Leases