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 multi-billions 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 installment sales, gifts, and a deferred compensation plan for the senior generation
• Advise the founder of a midsized manufacturer on the transition of ownership to the next generation. Planning techniques employed include gifts, sale of stock, GRATs and a recapitalization

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, “intentionally defective” grantor trusts, spousal lifetime access trusts (“SLATs”), 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
• Created planning for the second generation members of a family that owns a multinational company. The planning included estate planning, prenuptial agreements for children, a private foundation and SLAT gift trusts.

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:

• For over a decade, he served on the advisory board of a midsized manufacturing company with operations in multiple states and overseas
• Serves as trustee of nearly 20 trusts with assets ranging from $125,000 to $12 million