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Trust Ownership of Family BusinessesTrust Ownership of Family Businesses

Planning for the future.

Patricia M. Angus, Founder & CEO

February 27, 2024

13 Min Read
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The scenario is all too common. The founders (or non-founding owners) of a family business realize it’s time to do some estate planning. Their email inboxes have been inundated with alarming notices that the U.S. estate tax exemption is going down, or going away, and that tax rates are going up—soon. They’re implored to act—now. And they do. The founders or non-founding family owners get some recommendations and enter their lawyers’ offices. In each case, the lawyer reviews the situation, sees potential deterioration through estate tax and recommends that these owners set up one or more trusts. The owners are advised to transfer their business shares into trust during life or at death. 

Even if the owners’ net worth is less than the curre...

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About the Author

Patricia M. Angus

Founder & CEO, Angus Advisory Group LLC

http://www.angusadvisorygroup.com/

Patricia Angus, JD, MIA, TEP, is Founder and CEO of Angus Advisory Group LLC, and an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University. A recognized thought leader in multi-generational family governance and wealth, she has advised families with businesses, trusts, and charitable foundations for more than two decades. 

 

Ms. Angus helps clients navigate some of life's most complex issues, through critical analysis, strategic planning, and compassionate guidance. She practiced law at trusts and estates boutique Hughes and Whitaker (now Day Pitney) and Coudert Brothers international law firm (now Baker & McKenzie).  She served as Principal and Chief Wealth Advisory Officer of Shelterwood Financial Services LLC and Family Wealth Advisor at GenSpring and JP Morgan Private Bank. 

 

Ms. Angus launched the Family Enterprise and Wealth MBA course at Columbia Business School, and writes the "Building Bridges" column on www.wealthmanagement.com. She is a member of the Carter Center Planned Giving Advisory Council and the Editorial Advisory Board of Trusts & Estates.  She served on the New York Women's Foundation Allocations Committee and Citizens Committee for Children of New York's Advocacy Council. She has written numerous articles on topics including family wealth, businesses, trusts, estate planning, philanthropy, and women's issues, and frequently speaks at industry and family events. Ms. Angus has been named one of the Top 50 Women in Wealth Management by Wealth Manager, a Rising Star by Private Asset Management, and twice named in the Top 100 North American Wealth Advisers by City Wealth.  She received a B.A. cum laude from Amherst College, a Masters in International Affairs from Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs, and a J.D. from George Washington University Law School.