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The overall limitation of our practice to the practice areas listed below have been very carefully and thoughtfully considered. We believe that in focusing on these practice areas, we are providing the best legal service possible in these areas. Why? Simply because each of these areas in some way are affected by, interrelated to, or impacted by the others. Having knowledge and understanding of all the areas is necessary to provide the most comprehensive legal service to you, the client.
We have provided links to each of these practice areas in attempt to give you explanation of what each practice area entails. While the links explain the individual areas, they do not explain the interrelationship between those practice areas. Because of tax laws, transfer laws, distribution rules, conveyance laws, Medicaid regulations and other considerations, all of the practice areas listed below are somewhat interrelated.
At Bonahoom & Bonahoom we believe that the client is best served by having our attorneys focus on the areas listed so that we can give them full service with respect to those areas and provide the best entity selection or set up, the most efficient mergers and acquisitions, the best integrated business and succession plans as they relate to the estate planning, estate administration, wills/trusts, elder law, and Medicaid planning. All of these areas are interrelated and need to be looked at overall in order to properly advise a client. This is what we attempt to do at Bonahoom & Bonahoom. We believe that the client is best served by this approach.
The vast majority of Businesses in the U.S. are small to medium sized businesses. Whenever an individual or individuals start a business, or intend to continue to run a business, they have concerns as to what type of entity should be selected, what the tax ramifications are with respect to that entity, what the estate planning and business succession planning consequences are of their selection, personal liability concerns and what the consequences of their selection is on a day to day basis. In setting up these entities, there are numerous legal and practical considerations that need to be reviewed. In addition, to the extent that more than one person is entering into a business venture, typically there are securities law concerns, regulations governing how money can be invested, what disclosures are required, and issues of control that must be considered. While often times people will read or come to believe they can set up their own corporation, limited liability company (LLC) or even partnership, and while there may be various forms available for that purpose, an individual's failure to understand the ramifications of the entity selection can be critical in the life cycle of the business and even in its ultimate success.
In working in the area of partnerships, corporations, LLC's, and general business, we at Bonahoom & Bonahoom have a very good understanding of the differences, the pros and cons, and the pitfalls which individuals need to be weary of. In understanding the different entities we also can help in advising clients on their day to day business operations. The most prudent business decision you will ever make is to seek competent advise prior to or during the course of the life of your business.
Mergers & Acquisitions concerns the combining of one or more legal entities or the acquiring by one entity or person of one or more other entities. While we at Bonahoom & Bonahoom do not deal with publicly traded companies, initial public offerings and other similar transactions for publicly held and traded organizations we in fact do handle closely held companies (those companies which are owned by a small number of shareholders or owners), and the mergers and acquisitions of these type entities. If you are considering buying or selling such an entity you have many concerns not the least of which may be taxes, asset transfer concerns, the protection of your investment, and seeing to it that you are adequately and completely compensated in the case where you are the seller. All of these type concerns are handled in merger and acquisition transactions.
Business Succession Planning is the process by which an individual or individuals successfully transfer their business, often times to another family member to allow that third party (family or otherwise) to succeed in ownership. In undertaking a business succession plan there are numerous legal as well as emotional concerns which need to be addressed. As always there are concerns with respect to taxation, with proper transfer and properly securing the transfer. Additionally there are retirement concerns of the seller; cash flow concerns of the buyer to complete the transactions, the continued management of the business, and the overall effect of the transaction on all parties Estate Plans. A properly planned business succession plan can be a win/win situation for both the buyer and the seller wherein taxes can be minimized, and the transfer can go smoothly from both parties standpoint.
Estate Planning is the process of analyzing your assets, while you are living, to develop a plan that will meet your overall needs and objectives both during your life and after you die. Some objectives are to distribute assets according to your wishes, to minimize the costs and expenses of estate administration and to reduce or minimize taxation associated with the transfer of your assets. A large portion of estate planning needs to be done in conjunction with financial planning and investment. The financial planning and investment is not an area that we at Bonahoom & Bonahoom LLP advise on, however, in recognizing the interrelationship between the legal end of the estate planning and the financial planning end, we in most cases, will recommend that we work with your financial planner or introduce you to a financial planner who will work with us to best meet your needs.
Estate planning when properly handled will give you the piece of mind to know that all of your personal needs and objectives and met and that distributions will get to the individuals when you want them to and in the manner that you choose. Estate planning also takes into consideration who will handle your overall estate in the event that you become incapacitated and who will be in charge of your estate administration after you have passed away. Estate plans can vary widely from simply leaving assets to family members, to very complex plans utilizing trusts for the benefit of individuals and/or charity (often times not only for charitable purposes but to save significantly in estate taxes, income taxes and create retirement streams of income for the individual planning their estate). Additional estate planning must be integrated with business succession plans for those of you that own businesses. Plans should also address issues concerning minor children, disabled children, second marriage situations, and any other concerns which may affect your overall estate. There is only one thing for certain about estate planning; that is if you have no estate plan, the state has one for you, and it typically is not the estate plan that you want, and will in most cases cost more in taxes and administration expenses. Estate plans should be considered very carefully with estate planning attorneys who work in the are regularly.
In essence an estate administration is merely the practice of administering the assets of one's estate after a death has occurred. At the time that an individual dies there will be an estate administration either inside or outside of probate. One needs to understand that even the most well planned estates will have an estate (or trust) administration associated with them. There are tax returns that need to be filed, assets that need to be inventoried, valued, and distributed, creditors that need to be paid and distributions that need to be made. We believe that this area integrates closely with the other areas of practice at the law firm of Bonahoom & Bonahoom and we further believe that the preparation for estate administration situations is what will ultimately reduce the overall costs of the estate administration. There are however pitfalls to estate administrations and only those attorneys who work in the area on a regular basis should be consulted to undertake the estate (or trust) administration and probate process on behalf of an individual's estate when a death has occurred.
Whether you are purchasing or selling real estate, it is important to have someone to guide you through the various steps such as the offer and acceptance to purchase real estate, examining title documents, obtaining clean or marketable title, appraisals, surveys and closing. If you are buying or selling real estate "on contract," buyers need to protect themselves against encumbrances by the sellers and sellers need to protect themselves against defaults by the purchasers. Landlords and tenants need to know their rights and responsibilities regarding evictions, terms of the lease, and security deposits. Persons who want to retitle real estate need to know the various possible methods of co-ownership as well as the tax consequences. The attorneys at Bonahoom and Bonahoom, LLP have a broad base of experience in real estate transactions to properly advise you in your transaction.
Elder Law shifts emphasis of focus on the assets to focus on the person, which is what the elder needs and how he or she wishes to live out his or her life. The evolution of elder law has created for the elderly a cadre of lawyers who are specifically suited to be the elder's advocates. Now, the elder law attorney advises not only the traditional estate planning subjects of preserving assets for disposition to heirs after death and minimizing taxes and expenses to their heirs, but also he or she advises on ways to protect and preserve independence durring the life of spouses and disabled children.
Specifically, the elder law attorney advises not only on living wills, trusts durable powers of attorney, living wills and appointments of health care representatives, irrevocable life insurance trusts and other tax savings trusts, but also advises on Medicaid planning to avoid spousal impoverishment when one spouse enters the nursing home, Medicare claims and appeals, guardianships, nursing home issues including patient's rights and nursing home liability, elder abuse and fraud recovery, age discrimination in employment, retirement benefits and many other issues which confront the elderly.
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