Introduction

Estate planning and business planning are difficult, often emotional exercises. Individuals within families or businesses can have different perspectives or goals concerning the action taken or proposed. For instance, adult children who are beneficiaries of their parent’s trust, or business partners who are trying to decide how the business should be dissolved may have competing ideas for how the situation should get resolved. While differing perspectives can be the source of much disharmony they can be channeled into resolution by employing a number of useful tools:

Family Meetings

Planning who will get your personal property, who you've chosen as trustee or who will run your business does not have to be a surprise. A facilitated family meeting between parents and adult children can create a productive and comfortable forum for discussing these decisions, hearing different perspectives, or exploring options. Family meetings can help sustain cohesion or repair bitter feelings before the situation becomes irreparable.

Coaching

For those who feel it would not be appropriate or desirable to participate in a family meeting yet see the advantages they can provide, we can provide coaching tools to help you broach these topics on your own, or we can help you craft a Statement of Purpose, a written statement that you can include with your plan to help you fully explain the various choices you made.

Mediation

This is a facilitated meeting employed most often when conflicts have escalated to the point when the parties need an experienced neutral mediator to help them resolve their dispute. This process can be used either once litigation has commenced or as a proactive tool to prevent litigation in the event that it looks likely. Because of these circumstances, parties will most likely look at mediation as a tool during probate and trust administration should conflicts arise concerning the management of the estate or the distribution of property.

Similarly, mediation can be a productive process for resolving difficult issues between business owners pending a breakup of their organization or other disagreement.