YES, especially family-business owners need estate plans! We understand that the largest deterrent to putting one in place is the difficulty of making it happen. We understand that you may not want to dedicate the time it takes to the process. We understand that there are costs involved and tough decisions that have to be contemplated and made. But we are witnesses to what happens if you do not make time to make the tough decisions, deal with the complexity, and pay the fees - someone else makes different decisions for you that you would never have made and it always costs your estate a bundle more than the fees you would have incurred to get the planning done in the first place.

If it isn't obvious, we strongly recommend that our clients implement their estate plan and review it at least annually with a CFO Advisor and lawyer to make sure it is still accomplishing its intended purposes. Your estate plan covers the entire gamete of all that you own, including your business. Without a plan and a commitment to execute it, we can guarantee one thing - you will not end up where you intended to go!

(The chart above appeared in the USA TODAY on 24 June 2008 in the Money Section)