Avoiding the Fire Sale of the Family Business at DeathAvoiding the Fire Sale of the Family Business at Death

Let me state the obvious. Many family business owners (particularly founders) want to keep the business in the family after their deaths, but fail to do the necessary estate planning during their lifetimes (including liquidity planning) to make that happen. In fact, many times, they leave a mess behind for the next generation and their advisors to clean up. This can be a particular problem if the business that makes up a large percentage of the estate’s assets and liquidity isn’t available to pay estate taxes without a fire sale of the business. Fortunately, under these circumstances, three strategies are available that involve borrowing to pay the estate taxes owed. Two are statutory—based on Internal Revenue Code Sections 6166 and 6161...