How Mom and Dad Distribute Their Business Estate Makes a Difference

Filed in archive Business Succession on January 18, 2007

Family squabbles about money is not new. What is new is the amount of money being left by parents to their adult kids.

Family money is viewed as a special kind of money and takes on many symbolic meanings beyond its actual cash value... money is so tangled up with love and our feelings... "But since family money is becoming increasingly important in our lives and relationships, it's time we faced up to it," Millman says. "Being explicit about money doesn't have to corrupt our relationships. It can enhance them." Via The collision of family and money

For business owners, how you split up your business when one of your children wants to run the business and others don't makes what was a simple decision much more complex.

How do parents offset the value a sibling gets when inheriting the business to their other children?

There is no simple and easy answer, they key is to understand your options, discuss your plans with your kids, and put it all in writing.