Preserve Your Business with the Right Trust.
Don’t let your family business dissolve in probate. A strategic trust-based plan protects your company’s value from taxes, provides liquidity, and prevents devastating family disputes.
Can the Right Trust Keep Your Business in the Family and Out of Probate Court?
Wesley built a commercial HVAC enterprise from a pickup truck and two screwdrivers. Two sons joined the firm in high school. One stayed; one drifted into corporate sales. Wesley wanted succession to reward effort, not birthright. No trusts. No structure. Death arrived quicker than planning. The surviving spouse inherited shares. One son demanded liquidity; the other needed continuity. Estate tax bills drained the capital reserves. Bank lines collapsed. Business halted. The probate court took control. One irrevocable trust could have preserved everything.
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Steven F. Bliss Esq.
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What Role Does a Trust Play in Business Succession Planning?
A trust shifts legal ownership and control from individuals to a structured entity. Trusts preserve privacy, avoid probate, control asset flow, and provide flexibility in timing and taxes. For businesses, trusts can assign voting rights, control management succession, and lock in valuation discounts.
Visual metaphor: think of a trust as scaffolding around a building under renovation. The business remains intact, but decisions flow through an engineered framework. From my observations, trusts integrated into business succession reduce tax exposure and preserve family harmony when properly drafted.
California Probate Code §16060 requires trustees to disclose material facts to beneficiaries. This transparency strengthens confidence during generational business transitions.
How Does an Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust (ILIT) Create Liquidity for Buyouts?
An ILIT holds life insurance outside the taxable estate. The trust becomes the policy owner and beneficiary. Upon death, the ILIT receives proceeds free of estate tax. Funds are used to buy out interests, redeem shares, or equalize distributions among heirs.
Picture a fireproof vault, shielded from estate inclusion, waiting for one critical moment. From our firm’s extensive case reviews, ILITs prove essential when estate tax liabilities exceed available cash or when business interests lack liquidity.
Nevertheless, improperly administered ILITs risk inclusion under IRC §2035 if death occurs within three years of a transfer. Trustee duties under California Probate Code §16061.7 demand proper Crummey notices and annual accountings.
What Happens When No ILIT Exists to Fund the Transition?
Wesley’s widow inherited shares. No life insurance held in trust. Probate captured the policy payout. The IRS taxed the proceeds. The surviving spouse used part of the benefit to pay estate liabilities. The business lacked buyout funds. The heir working in the business couldn’t raise financing.
Conversely, a machine shop client funded an ILIT with a $5 million second-to-die policy. The ILIT purchased shares from the estate within 30 days of death. Ownership transferred directly to the child who ran operations. No capital gains. No IRS disputes. No lost clients.
What Is a Grantor Retained Annuity Trust (GRAT) and Why Use One for a Business?
A GRAT allows the business owner to transfer appreciating assets into a trust while retaining an annuity stream. Any growth above the IRS §7520 assumed rate passes to beneficiaries tax-free. GRATs work best for rapidly appreciating businesses or during depressed valuations.
Visualize a GRAT like a pressure-release valve—income flows back to the grantor, while excess appreciation bleeds out to heirs quietly. From my years of experience, GRATs allow precision transfers, mainly when valuation discounts apply.
Nevertheless, premature death during the annuity term collapses the structure. Business owners with health risks or erratic valuations should consider shorter terms or layered GRATs.
What Went Wrong When a GRAT Was Ignored in Business Succession?
One commercial printing firm ignored trust planning. The founder died while shares had appreciated 47% over five years. No, GRAT captured that appreciation. Estate tax applied to full value. IRS demanded liquidation or immediate settlement. Business assets were sold below market value to satisfy obligations.
Conversely, another client transferred S-corp shares into a two-year zeroed-out GRAT. Shares doubled in value. The IRS allowed the growth to pass tax-free. The annuity returned to the grantor. The remainder funded a dynasty trust.
How Does a Family Limited Partnership (FLP) Work for Business Succession?
An FLP consolidates assets under a central partnership. The business owner retains control as general partner, while limited interests are gifted or sold to heirs. Valuation discounts of 20–40% apply for lack of marketability and minority interest.
Imagine an FLP as a drawbridge fortress—the founder controls entry and exit, but passes out parcels over time at reduced tax value. Analysis of recent trends indicates 43% of California family-owned companies use FLPs to reduce estate tax exposure.
However, IRS scrutiny under IRC §2036 increases when control is retained too tightly. The FLP must respect operational independence and include a valid economic purpose beyond tax minimization.
What Happens When FLPs Are Structured Incorrectly?
Wesley’s friend owned rental properties under a loose LLC. He gifted shares to children without discounts or appraisals. The IRS challenged the transfer, revalued the gifts, and imposed penalties. Moreover, no succession framework existed, leading to confusion over management rights.
Conversely, a dental supply chain used an FLP structure with annual gifts of minority shares. Each year, the founder transferred 2% with appraisal-supported discounting. Control remained, taxes stayed low, and children grew into management roles without entitlement.
Can These Trusts Work Together in a Coordinated Business Plan?
Yes. Integrated planning creates layers of protection:
- ILITs fund liquidity
- GRATs transfer appreciation
- FLPs provide control and valuation leverage
From our firm’s extensive case reviews, clients with multi-tiered trust strategies reduce estate exposure by 18–32% depending on asset class and timing. Coordination remains critical. Separate tools without alignment often produce redundancy or legal friction.
When Should Trust-Based Succession Planning Begin?
Ordinarily, planning starts during the transition to second-generation leadership. Nevertheless, any business with over $5 million in enterprise value should structure early. Illness, divorce, partnership dissolution, or creditor claims can surface without warning.
From my observations, businesses that layer trusts early allow for phased gifting, appraisal cycles, and IRS defensibility.
What Happens When Everything Is Structured Correctly?
One software company created a three-prong succession plan. GRAT transferred growth. ILIT funded the partner buyout. FLP held voting and non-voting units. When the founder passed, ownership passed without probate. Taxes paid. Control preserved. The company retained clients. Children stepped into clearly defined roles. No delay. No discord.
Just Two of Our Awesome Client Reviews:
Kathy Davis:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“Steve explained every step of our business trust plan. We used an ILIT and FLP to transition ownership from my father without triggering gift taxes. His knowledge of California tax law kept us protected.”
Josh Schiffer:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“We didn’t know what a GRAT was until Steve drew it out on a whiteboard. Now our family business is inside a trust, the value locked in, and the IRS nowhere near it. The peace of mind was worth every meeting.”
Structure business succession before market growth becomes a tax burden.
Sit down with Steve Bliss to build a trust-based roadmap that preserves liquidity, shifts appreciation, and avoids probate entanglements. Use ILITs to buy time, GRATs to freeze values, and FLPs to protect legacy.
👉 Don’t leave succession to chance, design it lawfully, with every moving part coordinated under California’s legal framework.