If you weren’t available – even temporarily – to run your business, would it operate profitably in your absence?

Our November 2025 article, “

Multiple Owners? A Buy-Sell Agreement Is a Must

,” discussed how business co-owners can protect themselves and their company if one of them experiences a life-changing event (e.g., death or disability).

But what if it’s just you? What would happen to your company if, for a significant time, you weren’t there to run it? In this article we will take a look at some planning steps that can promote business continuity in your absence.

Importance.

Let’s

Good communication while both spouses are alive and well can spare the non-financial spouse a great deal of heartache when the financial spouse can no longer do the job.

Among married couples, it’s not uncommon for one spouse to manage all aspects of the family’s finances. While in the short term that makes life simple for the non-financial spouse – often the wife – her lack of familiarity with the couple’s money, investments, taxes, and perhaps business ownership only worsens the fear and sorrow that strike if her husband pre-deceases her.

That is one of the scenarios highlighted in a

Whether a non-spouse beneficiary has to take annual distributions, in addition to withdrawing all the funds within 10 years, is very fact-specific with regard to the decedent’s death and the beneficiary’s situation.

When the owner of a retirement account – a 401(k) or a traditional or Roth IRA – passes away, the account’s transfer to the designated beneficiary raises tax issues for the beneficiary. The nature and extent of those tax issues depends largely on the beneficiary’s relationship to the deceased, i.e., whether they are:

• a surviving spouse (and a few others, described below); or

• a non-spouse beneficiary (including an

A well-conceived buy-sell agreement can protect you and your company from the consequences of a co-owner’s misfortune.



For any type of entity that has multiple owners (LLC, partnership, or closely held corporation), a well-conceived buy-sell agreement can lessen – or avoid altogether – the financial and emotional pain in a variety of common scenarios, cumulatively known as the “killer D’s”: death, default, departure, disability, disagreement and divorce.

As

Investopedia

explains, a buy-sell agreement among co-owners is a “legally binding contract that stipulates how [an owner]’s share of a business may be reassigned if that [owner] dies or otherwise leaves

Attention to five important issues now can ease your heirs’ emotional and legal burdens later.



After investing the time, money, and mental energy that go into creating an estate plan, for many people there’s a temptation to view their will or trust as a one-and-done proposition: “Okay, we have our estate plan; we can check that off our list and move on.”

That’s a mistake. The passage of time, changes in circumstances and priorities, and other factors can quickly erode an estate plan’s value. It’s a sign of wisdom to review your plan on a scheduled basis, with an

The life and death of one of the 20th century’s most celebrated American authors offer valuable reminders about the differing natures of wills and trusts.



By

Ryan Scharber

This year is the 65th anniversary of the release of the classic American novel,

To Kill a Mockingbird

, written by Harper Lee and published in 1960.

I mention this because, first, an autographed copy resides on my bookshelf. Also, and more germane to this article, after Ms. Lee’s death in 2016, her estate was involved in controversies that raise at least two useful lessons in

estate planning

, especially in

While beauty is in the eye of the beholder, there’s no denying that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act is big – and important. Aside from a few terminated deductions and credits, it delivers welcome news for many taxpayers.

If you are a long-time reader of our

Family Wealth Matters

articles, you might recall seeing several mentions that, “if Congress fails to act by 2025,” the tax issue being discussed might revert to a less favorable condition.

Henceforth, you will not see that phrase. When President Trump signed into law last month the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) Act, he

Immediately after a person dies, their personal representative or trustee should be alert for opportunities to safeguard the decedent’s assets.

“What do I do now?”

If you have been named as the personal representative of an estate or the successor trustee of a trust, that might be among the first questions that come to mind when you learn of the death of the testator (will) or trustor (trust).

Several years ago, we sought to help answer that question with the publication of two popular Arizona-specific resources:

Personal Representative Handbook

and

Successor Trustee Handbook

.

While both handbooks offer fairly in-depth

As long as Arizona requires a will to be signed, with the signer and witnesses physically together, video wills won’t work, and “electronic” wills are likely to be more trouble than they’re worth.

In 2022, a Montana man, Jesse Beck, sent a selfie video to his brother, Jason. In the video, Jesse stated, “If anything happens to me whatsoever, I give all my possessions – everything – to Jason Beck, my brother.”

Four days later, Jesse died in an auto accident. His daughter asked the court to appoint her as Jesse’s personal representative “in intestacy” – i.e., without a will.

In contrast to a prenuptial agreement, which stakes out each spouse’s position in case of divorce, premarital estate planning blend the spouses’ separate property into a financial union.

By

Ryan Scharber

When Michael and Jessica, a 40-something engaged couple, made an appointment for premarital estate planning, we assumed (OK,

I

assumed) that they would want to create a

prenuptial agreement

.

Wrong assumption. The couple made clear from the beginning of our meeting that they wanted nothing to do with a traditional prenuptial (or premarital) agreement, which they viewed as a divisive “what’s mine is mine” step in planning for

Whether the result of legislation or voter approval, a number of new state laws and more have recently become effective.

In Arizona, new state laws can be created in two ways: as the result of a bill that passes both houses of the legislature and is signed by the governor, or by voter approval of an

initiative

(initiated by the public via petition) or a

referendum

(referred to the voters by the legislature). While laws can be passed by the legislature or by voters, a state constitutional amendment can be approved only by public vote.

Following is a short list

Whether your funeral plan is part of, or separate from, your estate plan, specifying your wishes and perhaps pre-funding your funeral expenses can ease the burden on your loved ones.

One of the ironies of estate planning is that, after going to great lengths to create specific, thorough instructions regarding the disposition of their assets, many people provide little or no direction concerning the disposition of their remains.

That’s too bad. Just as a well-conceived estate plan can eliminate legal and financial stress in the months following your death, a simple statement of your funeral wishes can lighten your family’s

You don’t have to go into great detail; giving them the highlights can go a long way toward avoiding confusion and a family fight after your death.

Last summer, in “

Equipping Your Successor Trustee or Personal Representative

,” we outlined the benefits of notifying your estate administrator – perhaps one of your adult children – that you have named them to serve in that role and how to locate the documents they will need to carry out their duties.

While we stand by our suggestions, we also endorse a November 2024

Wall Street Journal

article, “

Warren Buffett Talks