Your business may be the most valuable part of your estate, your most effective wealth accumulation tool, and a lasting resource that provides income and security for generations of your family to come. It also can be the source of your biggest headaches and maybe even a little heartache. That’s because your business isn’t just an asset. It’s part of you, your life, your legacy.

From startup to daily operations and long-term planning, your business takes special care, attention, and expertise. That’s where The Stuart Legacy Alliance, LLC, comes in.

We will work personally with you and your advisors to help you achieve your unique goals, designing systems and fostering strategic relationships that help grow your business while protecting your family.

Business Start-up

Starting a business can be one of the most confusing and challenging times for any owner. There are a variety of ways to organize your company, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. We’ll help you choose from all of today’s many options, which include…

Schedule an appointment and get your business started today!

It’s never too early to begin planning for a smooth and profitable exit from your business. Taking the right steps early on can save money, legal issues, and time, while preserving personal and professional relationships.

Succession planning is about more than just retirement. At The Stuart Legacy Alliance, LLC, we’ve created a proven transition process that takes into account your financial and personal goals, the transfer of the company to new owners, and even contingencies that will keep the business running if you’re disabled.

Proper succession and exit planning will:

And if you want your children to take over the business but they’re not ready, we can help you establish a management transition team or other entity that can run the business until they can take control on their own.

As with our estate planning services, we will work closely with your financial advisors, CPAs, insurance advisors, and others to develop a plan for your unique goals and objectives.

Begin planning the future of your business today.

It’s easy to think of estate planning as a one-time event — you look at your assets, draw up the documents, and you’re done. But the fact is, your circumstances change, your assets change, and even laws change. And that means estate planning is a continual work in progress.

But it doesn’t have to be difficult. At The Stuart Legacy Alliance, LLC, our proprietary Ultimate Legacy℠ and Lifespanworks® processes are designed to keep plans current, offering the additional peace of mind that comes from knowing your assets will be protected and available at the appropriate time.

The estate plan we develop and execute will:

Contact us for a complimentary consultation to learn more about our unique programs. We will work together with you and your loved ones to build and implement a plan designed around your particular needs and circumstances.

There are many types of trusts, but the most common today is the “revocable living trust,” which establishes instructions for your or your family’s care if you can’t provide that yourself because of illness, disability, or death. Revocable living trusts usually last beyond the lifetime of the person creating them, and when the trustmaker passes away, the trust continues on, carrying out the deceased’s wishes and protecting his or her loved ones.

Once the revocable trust is formed, the person who created the trust should transfer assets into the trust. The trust holds the assets, but the trustmaker retains control of the assets while alive and competent in the eyes of the law. A trustmaker can change the terms of the trust at any time.

Children and trusts

Trusts help provide for minor children, giving them and those who care for them the flexibility to deal with evolving circumstances as the children grow up. Trusts often provide:

This allows the trustmaker to provide for almost any contingency, including educational, disability, and special needs expenses. And like a will, a trust can designate the duties of a guardian to care for children if something happens to the parents.

Properly establishing a trust early on alleviates problems and uncertainty later. Don’t gamble with your life’s assets. At The Stuart Legacy Alliance, LLC, we have many years of experience establishing effective and safe trusts for people in any stage of life.

Start the process of developing your family’s trust today.

Trusts can last for generations and involve complex financial, accounting, tax, and investment management decisions. The selection of a trustee — the person ultimately responsible for administering your trust — is one of the most important decisions you’ll make in establishing your trust.

But it doesn’t have to be difficult.

At The Stuart Legacy Alliance, LLC, we’ll help you understand the issues related to trusts and the responsibilities of the trustee so you can rest easy knowing you’re leaving the right person in control.

Some of the responsibilities of a trustee include:

Although we can serve in the role of trustee ourselves, we would prefer to help you find the right trustee, and allow us to continue serving as your legal advisor.

Learn more about trust administration today.

A will is a legal document that describes how your assets should be distributed in the event of your death. While they can be effective estate planning tools in some cases, wills often offer far fewer protections and more loose ends than trusts.

To distribute assets as outlined in a will, the document must be subjected to a process called probate. It’s a legal process that puts courts, judges, and lawyers in control. And because it’s a court hearing, your affairs become part of the public record, exposed for anyone to see. Rather than being a private family matter, the way you distribute your estate is open to inspection — and challenge — by anyone who goes to the courthouse.

Another drawback is that wills only become effective after death and provide no lifetime planning functions that could protect you should you become disabled, although powers of attorney could be granted to authorize someone to act in those instances. In addition, many times wills do not control life insurance proceeds, retirement benefits, or jointly owned property.

But there are times when a will is valuable. It’s an excellent estate planning tool for passing small assets to family members or charities. Because they can be contested in a court of law, they shouldn’t be drawn up by just anyone with an attorney’s license, but rather by someone with extensive will and probate experience.

At The Stuart Legacy Alliance, LLC, we will help you determine if a will is the best option for you. We draft and defend wills that stand up under the closest legal scrutiny, helping make sure our clients’ assets are protected and distributed properly.

Contact us today.

Some might say “probate” is a fancy word for “trouble”.

It’s the process of proving the validity of a will and settling the estate of a deceased person in a court of law. That means there’s more red tape, more delays, and more costs. More of everything, except, perhaps, the assets you’re hoping to protect.

In some instances, a will can be a valuable tool for helping protect assets, but it guarantees probate proceedings in court. That means all probate information becomes part of the public record, giving anyone who is interested information about your beneficiaries, your assets, and your creditors. And because it’s a court hearing, disgruntled relatives, creditors, and others can easily challenge a will. In addition, anyone who owns property in more than one state will face probate proceedings everywhere their property is located.

At The Stuart Legacy Alliance, LLC, we can help you navigate through the complex probate process. We also can help you avoid probate by ensuring your assets are properly titled, owned, and in line with your estate planning goals.

Contact us today.