There is an interesting article on page B3 of today’s Wall Street Journal (for those still reading the print edition) about family business succession at Wal-Mart.
What are you doing to plan your Florida Estate?
- Chairman Rob Walton is being succeeded by son in law Greg Penner; just the 3rd person to hold this important American business title since the late, great Sam Walton.
- The son in law, Greg Penner is only 45 years old.
- According to the Wall Street Journal, the Walton family owns about 50% of the stock in Wal-Mart.
- From an estate planning standpoint, many Palm Beach estate planning and transfer tax attorneys know, and are very familiar with, the “Walton GRAT” case, years old now, and
- How grantor retained annuity trusts may be used to shift wealth to applicable family members at little or no gift tax cost.
- GRATs can be a great estate tax saving vehicle for children, but not always the “best” estate planning technique for more remote descendants like grandchildren, because of the allocation rules of the GST (generation-skipping transfer tax).
- Here is the link to this article on son in law Greg Penner taking over at Wal-Mart:http://www.wsj.com/articles/wal-mart-names-greg-penner-as-chairman-1433511656