Legacy PLANNING · CALIFORNIA
Legacy Planning For California Business Owners And Families
Protecting what you built for future generations.
Business succession, charitable structures and family governance for California owners, founders and families who want the next chapter planned rather than discovered, designed by an attorney who spent over a decade in trusts and estates and then went in-house at a registered investment adviser.
Legacy Planning Strategy
A foundational estate plan answers who gets what. Legacy planning answers something harder: what happens to the thing you spent thirty years building, and what your money is for once your family has enough.
For most of the people on this page the wealth is not sitting in a brokerage account. It is inside a company, a portfolio of California property, or a position that has not been sold yet. That changes the planning completely. A business cannot be divided four ways in a will. One child may work in it and three may not. A sale that closes before the planning is done costs a great deal more than one that closes after.
The charitable side is the same story. Giving that is decided in December, from whatever cash is left, does far less than giving that is built into the structure. A charitable remainder trust can turn a concentrated, low-basis position into a lifetime income stream without the capital gains bill landing first. A donor-advised fund can hold years of giving from a single high-income year.
None of this is a template. It starts with two conversations, one about the business and one about the family, and the documents follow from there.
WHAT'S INCLUDED
Protect Your Business. Preserve Your Legacy.
Who takes over, who owns it afterward, and how the children who are not in the business are treated fairly without breaking the business to do it. Written as a plan with dates, not an intention.
Funding, valuation method, triggering events and the tax consequences of each structure. Since the Supreme Court decided Connelly v. United States in 2024, a company-owned life insurance policy funding a redemption can increase the value of the estate rather than pay the tax on it. Agreements written before that decision are worth rereading.
Moving equity into trust before a letter of intent, when the valuation is lowest and the discount is defensible. This is the single highest-value piece of work on this page and it has a deadline attached to it.
For founders whose shares may qualify under Section 1202, structuring who holds the stock so more of the gain is excluded. The 2025 rules raised the per-issuer cap to $15 million and allow a partial exclusion from year three, which changes the timing of a sale as well as the structure.
You place an appreciated asset in the trust, the trust sells it without paying capital gains tax at that moment, you receive an income stream for life or a term of up to twenty years, and what remains goes to charity. You take an income tax deduction in the year you fund it.
The reverse. Charity receives the income for a set period and your family receives what is left, often at a heavily reduced gift tax value.
The simplest structure. Fund it in a high-income year, take the deduction then, and decide where the money goes over the years that follow.
Not a legal document. The part of the estate that says why, which is the part families keep.
Why it is worth doing
Why Business And Legacy Planning Matters
Most family businesses do not make it through the second generation, and the usual cause is not the market. It is an unplanned handover, a dispute between siblings, or a tax bill that forced a sale.
Once there is a signed letter of intent, the valuation is set and most of the good options have closed. Equity moved into trust beforehand moves at the lower number, and the growth between then and closing happens outside your estate.
A charitable remainder trust lets the asset be sold inside the trust rather than by you, which means the full value is reinvested and paying you, instead of what is left after tax.
The same dollars, given through the right structure at the right time, produce a larger deduction, a larger gift and a larger income stream than a check written in December.
Life insurance, non-voting interests and other assets can balance the inheritance without splitting control of a company between people who disagree about how to run it.
Most estate disputes are not about the documents. They are about a decision nobody explained. Explaining it while you are here is the cheapest dispute prevention there is.
What the money is for is worth writing down. Families follow a plan they understand.
WHO THIS IS FOR
Families and Business Owners We Advise
Owners of California businesses who intend to hand the company on rather than wind it down and want a clear succession plan for ownership and control.
Founders with a sale, merger or liquidity event in sight, ideally before the letter of intent, when meaningful planning opportunities may still be available.
Families where one child works in the business and others do not, and where the estate plan needs to balance ownership, control and fairness among the children.
Real estate investors with a portfolio that has outgrown the plan that was written around it and who need their estate and succession planning brought up to date.
Families who give significantly each year and have never had their giving structured to coordinate tax planning, charitable goals and long-term family objectives.
Anyone holding a large, low-basis position they cannot sell without a substantial tax bill and who wants to explore planning options before a sale.
Families thinking about a foundation and unsure whether the scale of their charitable giving justifies one or whether another structure may better fit their goals.
Parents who want the next generation prepared for what is coming, not surprised by it, with the family's plans and responsibilities explained before they take effect.
Business owners whose buy-sell agreement has not been reviewed since it was signed and who want to make sure its valuation, funding, triggering events and tax consequences still make sense.
WHY WORK WITH ME
A Practice Built Around You
A foundational estate plan answers who gets what. Legacy planning answers something harder: what happens to the thing you spent thirty years building, and what your money is for once your family has enough.
For most of the people on this page the wealth is not sitting in a brokerage account. It is inside a company, a portfolio of California property, or a position that has not been sold yet. That changes the planning completely. A business cannot be divided four ways in a will. One child may work in it and three may not. A sale that closes before the planning is done costs a great deal more than one that closes after.
The charitable side is the same story. Giving that is decided in December, from whatever cash is left, does far less than giving that is built into the structure. A charitable remainder trust can turn a concentrated, low-basis position into a lifetime income stream without the capital gains bill landing first. A donor-advised fund can hold years of giving from a single high-income year.
HOW IT WORKS
From projection To a plan That Still Holds
We cover what you own, how it is held, who is involved in the business, and what you want the next twenty years to look like. You leave knowing what is worth doing and in what order.
I review the operating agreements, the buy-sell, the cap table and the existing plan, and I map who is affected by what.
Some of this work has deadlines attached, particularly anything before a sale. You get a recommended order with the reasoning and the trade-offs set out, developed with your CPA and advisor.
Trusts drafted, entities formed, agreements revised, appraisals obtained, and the assets actually moved.
When you are ready, the plan is explained to the people it affects, with you in the room.
Businesses, families and tax law all move. The plan is checked against them rather than filed away. [Confirm how this is offered and priced.]
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Common Questions Before Booking
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A standard estate plan moves your assets to the people you choose with as little tax and delay as possible. Legacy planning starts one question earlier. It deals with the assets that cannot simply be divided, such as a business or a concentrated position, and with what the wealth is for once your family is provided for. In practice it covers succession, charitable structures, how the next generation is prepared, and the conversation that explains all of it. It sits on top of a foundational plan rather than replacing one, so most clients have both.
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You transfer an appreciated asset into an irrevocable trust. The trust sells it without paying capital gains tax at the point of sale, so the whole value is reinvested. You then receive payments of between 5 and 50 percent of the trust value each year, for life or for a term of up to twenty years, and whatever remains at the end goes to the charity you named. You take an income tax deduction when you fund it, based on the projected value of the charitable remainder, which must be worth at least 10 percent of what you put in. It makes the most sense when you hold something highly appreciated, want income rather than a lump sum, and were going to give to charity anyway. It is irrevocable, so it is not the right tool if you may need the capital back.
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Before the letter of intent, and ideally a year or more before that. Once a sale is under negotiation the valuation is effectively fixed, which removes the discount that makes transfers into trust efficient, and the IRS looks closely at transfers made on the eve of a sale. Plan early and the equity moves at the lower value, the growth to closing happens outside your estate, and there is time to structure who holds the stock, which matters if the shares may qualify for the small business stock exclusion under section 1202. Planning after closing is still worth doing, but the most valuable options have gone.
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For most families a donor-advised fund is enough. It is quick to open, costs little, carries the better deduction limits, and requires no tax return or board. A private foundation makes sense when you want control that a fund cannot give you: employing family members, making grants to individuals or to organizations outside the usual charitable list, holding assets directly, and creating a role your children can inherit. It also brings a minimum annual payout requirement, an excise tax on investment income and real administration. Some families use both, with the foundation for the visible work and a fund alongside it.
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It is a start, and it is worth rereading. Two things commonly go wrong. The valuation formula is years out of date, so it no longer reflects what the company is worth. And since the Supreme Court's 2024 decision in Connelly v. United States, an agreement where the company owns the life insurance and uses the proceeds to buy back a deceased owner's shares can increase the value of that owner's estate, creating an estate tax bill the insurance was supposed to cover. A cross-purchase structure, or a trust holding the policies, often works better now. This is worth checking before it is tested.
BOOK A FREE CONSULTATION
Start Planning Your Legacy Today
Most of this work is worth more the earlier it happens, and the piece that matters most, planning before a sale, has a real deadline attached to it. Book a free consultation, by video or at my Marina Del Rey office, and you will leave knowing what is worth doing, in what order, and what it will cost. Call 310.853.2667, email info@honeybrookslaw.com, or use the booking form.