The purpose of this course is to enable the CPA to advise the closely held business owner on special estate-planning problems and opportunities. The focus of this course is on the transfer of wealth, liquidity, and business continuation.

Major topics include:

• Transferring the closely held business interest to family members -- Gift strategies, sales techniques, and recapitalizations
• Lowering gift tax costs by use of GRATs and GRUTs
• A comprehensive income and estate tax analysis in choosing and implementing buy-sell agreements for corporations, partnerships, and LLCs
• Use of family partnerships and family S corporations, including gift tax ideas and income tax planning
• Limitations on the ability to freeze the value of a closely held business
• How to value the closely held business for gift and estate tax purposes, including minority and marketability discounts
• Special valuation issues for real estate and farms under §2032A
• Tax issues affecting the disposition and distribution of partnership and LLC interests

Level of knowledge: Advanced