#family-business
Guidance for family-owned businesses on governance, succession, and managing family dynamics
Probate takes ~16 months and 3-8% of the estate; a funded living trust skips both. How owners should weigh cost, privacy, incapacity, and guardians.
A BDIT makes you the income-tax owner of assets you don't own for estate tax under Section 678 — sell to it, keep control, freeze your estate.
A QTIP trust claims the marital deduction under Section 2056 now while you — not your spouse — decide where the assets go after your spouse dies.
A parent's sole proprietorship can pay a child up to $16,100 in 2026 wages federal-tax-free — no FICA under 18, no FUTA under 21.
Supporting a parent can unlock a $500 IRS dependent credit, head-of-household status, plus medical and care deductions.
Only 23% of family farms have a succession plan. Transfer management first, use LLC interests plus IRS Sections 2032A and 6166, and keep the farm intact.
Corporate officers who work in the business are employees under IRS rules — wages, withholding, and FICA apply even to sole shareholders taking distributions.
Your spouse's travel is deductible only if they are your employee on a bona fide business trip — otherwise the IRS treats employer-paid costs as W-2 wages.
An unfunded living trust controls nothing — retitle real estate, accounts, and business interests into it, and back it with a pour-over will.
A spouse on W-2 payroll can fund a second solo 401(k) and pretax health coverage — if the IRS sees real work, market pay, and payroll records.
An IRS Section 453 installment sale spreads the gain across your retirement, while $19,000 annual gifts and 20-40% valuation discounts move value tax-free.
A teen owes a tax return at just $400 of net self-employment income — no age minimum. How the 15.3% SE tax, the $1,000 estimated-tax tripwire, the $20,000 1099-K threshold, and a custodial Roth IRA fit together.
