Estate Planning for the Healthy Wealthy Family – How to Promote Family Harmony, Affirm Your Values, and Protect your Assets By Stanley D. Neeleman, J.D. Carla B. Garrity, PH.D and Mitchell A. Baris, PH.D. Copyright 2003, published by Allworth Press.

Summary
Have you gone through the motions of drawing up a will, creating a revokable living trust, establishing powers of attorney and other estate planning tasks, but still feel that something is missing?

If so, then this book may be for you. It is a fairly easy read divided into three main parts: 1) information and discussion about money, values, happiness and modeling your family values to your children; 2) basic and advanced estate planning terms and tools and 3) dangers involved in asset transfer. Continue reading →

Family Wealth – Keeping It in the Family – How Family Members and Their Advisers Preserve Human, Intellectual, and Financial Assets for Generations by James E. Hughes Jr. Copyright 2004 Published by Bloomberg Press.

Summary

James Hughes, a sixth generation lawyer, was invited to visit a wealthy Singapore businessman in 1974. The reason for the visit? It was so that Mr Hughes could apply the techniques of American families help the businessman’s family avoid going from rice paddy to rice paddy in three generations. This, along with the tutelage of his father (also a lawyer) on the importance of business succession planning contributed to the experiences that led to this book.

“A family’s ability to remain in business over a long period of time always comes down to excellent long-term succession planning, regardless of how successful the family is financially. Families attempting long-term wealth preservation often don’t understand that they are businesses….”. P 5 Continue reading →