Mark Harder has dedicated his practice to counseling and representing high net worth individuals families, family businesses and their owners, and closely held businesses. He provides his clients with estate planning and estate settlement services, advises on family business succession planning matters, represents family and closely held businesses in their day to day business matters, and serves as an adviser and counselor on legal matters to businesses, individuals, and their families.

  • Reporter, Michigan Trust Code and Chair of the Michigan Trust Code Committee of the State Bar of Michigan Probate and Estate Planning Section

Representative Experience

  • Family Business and Succession Planning

    Mr. Harder represents family owned businesses and the families who own them, providing advice on the successful transition of ownership and management of these business to future generations. These businesses range in size from $5 million to more than $200 million in annual revenue.

    • Succession planning for a multinational family owned business currently owned by the second, third, and fourth generations of a family. Succession planning tools and techniques employed include grantor retained annuity trusts, family gift trusts, family limited liability partnerships and companies, an irrevocable life insurance trust to provide liquidity, buy and sell agreements, a family constitution, compensation planning for nonfamily executives, and a family office
    • Succession planning for founding generation of a midsized manufacturing company. Succession planning tools and techniques used include multiple classes of stock, grantor retained annuity trusts, family limited liability company, and irrevocable life insurance trusts
    • Advise the second generation sibling owners on the transition of a services company to a third generation cousin consortium using an installment sale, gifts, and a deferred compensation plan for the senior generation
    • Advise the founder of a midsized manufacturer of capital equipment on the transition of ownership to the next generation. Planning techniques employed include gifts, sale of stock, recapitalization, and a deferred compensation agreement
  • Estate Planning and Settlement

    Mr. Harder represents high net worth individuals using complex and sophisticated estate planning techniques, including irrevocable life insurance trusts, grantor retained annuity trusts, grantor or "intentionally defective" trusts, family limited partnerships and limited liability companies, preferred freeze partnerships, family offices, and charitable remainder trusts

    • Developed and implemented a strategic wealth succession and estate plan for high net worth couple. The plan incorporates a charitable remainder trust, private foundation, grantor retained annuity trusts, "intentionally defective" grantor gift trusts, a family bank, and a family limited liability company
    • Represent third generation inactive members of a family owned multinational manufacturing company using grantor retained annuity trusts, gift trusts, and liquidity planning to preserve family wealth and legacy assets and to transfer wealth to fourth generation descendants
    • Represent a fifth generation inactive owner of a family owned business, using revocable trusts, grantor trusts, a lifetime QTIP trust, and a preferred freeze partnership, all designed as part of an integrated plan to minimize the loss of value to transfer taxes and to preserve legacy assets for the 6th generation
    • Represent numerous other high net worth families and employing irrevocable life insurance trusts, grantor retained annuity trusts, "intentionally defective" grantor trusts, "Crummey" withdrawal rights trusts, Age 21 trusts, lifetime QTIP trusts, and other gift trusts, charitable remainder trusts, private foundations, and family limited partnerships and family limited liability companies
  • Representation of Family and Closely Held Businesses

    Mr. Harder also represents numerous family and closely held businesses engaged in a variety of diverse industries and businesses, including

    • Professional services firm – handling acquisitions, shareholder buy and sell agreements, shareholder transactions, and contracting
    • Automotive suppliers – providing counsel on contracting, acquisitions, and international matters
    • Software company – provides general legal counsel to software company
  • Other

    In the course of his representation of families and their businesses, Mr. Harder is also called upon from time to time to serve the family and the business in other areas. For example, he

    • Serves on the advisory board of a midsized manufacturing company with operations in multiple states and overseas  
    • Serves as adviser to the Board of Directors of a civil engineering and consulting firm based in a major metropolitan area in the United States and engaged in numerous overseas projects
    • Serves as trustee of nearly 20 trusts with assets ranging from $125,000 to $3 million

Honors and Awards

  • Named 2010 Lawyer of the Year for Trusts and Estates in the Grand Rapids area by Best Lawyers in America
  • Elected as a Fellow of the American College of Trusts and Estates Counsel, 2006
  • Best Lawyers in America, Trusts and Estates, 2005-2012
  • Named to Michigan Super Lawyers 2006-2011
  • Order of the Coif
  • Editor in Chief, The Journal of Corporation Law

Bar Associations

  • American Bar Association
    Real Property, Probate and Trust Law; Business Law; Taxation
  • Michigan State Bar Foundation
  • State Bar of Wisconsin
  • State Bar of Michigan
    Probate & Estate Planning Section, Chair-elect (2011-Present), Vice Chair (2010-11), Secretary (2009-10), Treasurer (2008-09); Michigan Trust Code Committee Chair (2002-Present)

Publications

  • "Estates and Protected Individuals Code with Reporters' Commentary" by John H. Martin and Mark K. Harder, Reporters for the EPIC and MTC Drafting Committees, Probate and Estate Planning Section, State Bar of Michigan (ICLE 2011)

Professional Affiliations

  • Attorneys for Family Held Enterprises
    Treasurer (2010-11), Past Member, Board of Directors; 2007 and 2008 Annual Conference Planning Chair
  • Family Firm Institute
  • Holland Area Chamber of Commerce
    Past Chairman, Leadership Holland Selection Committee (1996-98); Leadership Holland Executive Committee (1998)
  • Institute of Continuing Legal Education
    Member, Probate Advisory Board (2007-11)
  • American College of Trust and Estate Counsel
    State Laws Committee (2007-13)

Community Affiliations

  • Center for Women in Transition
    Board Member (1996-00); Treasurer, Executive Committee (1997-01); Finance Committee (1998-03)
  • Children's Talent Center
    Regional Advisory Board (1995-98)
  • Hospice of Holland Center
    Member, Professional Advisory Committee (1998-06)

News

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