also called: personal tax counsel, estate planner, private wealth advisor
This seat handles the owner’s own position rather than the company’s: the personal tax consequences of the structure being negotiated, estate and gift planning, charitable structures, and what the family actually receives. Several of the most valuable planning steps have to be taken well before a transaction is agreed, and become unavailable once a deal is in motion.
For a family-owned business the shareholder conversation belongs here too. Family members with different needs, different time horizons and different degrees of involvement in the business can turn a straightforward sale into a negotiation with people you will still see at Thanksgiving.
Well before a letter of intent, and ideally in the same period as the exit planning work. Certain planning steps have timing requirements that a deal timetable will not accommodate.
Fee for planning work, hourly for tax counsel, and in some cases assets under management for ongoing wealth management. Understand which of your advisors are compensated by fees and which by products, and ask directly.
Treating personal planning as something to sort out after the money arrives. Several of the useful options expire when the deal becomes probable.
Not transaction counsel, who represents the company in the deal. Not your exit planner, though the two should be working together.
The Institute accepts no payment from any advisor, takes no fee tied to any transaction, and does not place or refer professionals for compensation. This entry describes a role, not a recommendation of any firm.