I’m pleased to announce that one of Michigan’s premier business journals, DBUSINESS, recently announced its 2010 “Top Lawyers” in metropolitan Detroit - and three of the principals with Wright Penning & Beamer made the list.

DBUSINESS compiles its list as a resource and reference guide for its readers. Selection criteria include:

• legal knowledge
• analytical capabilities
• judgment
• communication ability, and,
• legal experience.

The list was published in the journal’s November/December 2009 edition.

According to the publication, selected lawyers “possess the highest professional ability and ethical standards.”

Dirk Beamer, Lee Flaherty and I were selected this year. Beamer for his expertise in business and commercial litigation; Flaherty for her work with non-profits and charitable organizations, and I was recognized for business and estate planning.

As a founding shareholder of the firm I’ve focused my practice areas primarily in planning for business entities including family businesses, estate planning for business owners, individuals, families with special needs children, and succession planning for family cottages and farms. Through these practice areas our firm has become a leading resource for individual and business clients.

Beamer oversees our firm’s diverse litigation practice, focusing primarily on business and commercial litigation. He spearheads the firm’s efforts in insurance law, unfair competition, trademark infringement, employment matters and contract disputes. Dirk has litigated in state and federal courts across the country. He also counsels business owners and managers concerning employment practices and management.

In addition to her work with non-profits, Lee Flaherty is well versed in real estate, business law, estate planning and probate. Lee’s business expertise encompasses the support of ongoing businesses, business purchases and sales, and representation in commercial real estate transactions. Her estate planning practice focuses on the preparation of a wide variety of trusts and other documents to assist clients in avoiding probate, preserving assets and minimizing taxes.

I take pride in my colleagues’ accomplishments and wanted to share this good news with you. As a firm we continue to strive daily to deliver the highest quality legal services to our clients throughout Michigan and beyond.

Dan A. Penning

Tags: Agribusiness, Business Management/Law, Business Succession, Cottage Law, Employment Law, Estate Planning, Know it Now, Personal Management, Special Needs Children, Suttons Bay Depot by Dan Penning
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A few weeks ago I posted a blog about my oldest son, Tucker, and his experiences in a high school hockey tournament and about how through perseverance, commitment and hard work he achieved success and assisted his team in winning a tournament semi-final game.

I also quoted various statements by Dr. Alan Zimmerman that appeared in his weekly newsletter entitled “Tuesday Tip” on success. Dr. Zimmerman commented that one must observe four key elements in order to achieve success which are to “toil awhile; to endure awhile; to believe always and to never turn back”.

April is Autism Awareness Month. I have three sons, all of whom are special, unique and from my prejudice view, great kids. One of my sons, a 14 year-old twin, Casey, is autistic. As I reflected further on my blog about my oldest son’s hard work and achievement of success on the ice, I began thinking about challenges that individuals who are autistic, like my son Casey, face minute-by-minute, hour-by-hour and day-by-day. The significant factor that makes autism so difficult to deal with is that it is a spectrum disorder that is not the same for any two individuals. There are varying degrees of autism and how it manifests itself in people.

Children with autism may act in some unusual ways. Some may have difficulties with certain activities, but they may have strengths in other areas. For instance, a child with autism may be a math wiz, a great artist or unbeatable at computer games. Still, they may have trouble putting their thoughts into words or understanding what you say.

Some children with autism prefer that schedules stay the same or that people always sit in the same seats and they have a difficult time when things change. Changes may be scary for them, so they may try telling others what to do or where to sit. When schedules change and they do not know what is coming next, they are very upset, sad or angry.

Some children with autism do not see, hear, or feel things the same way we do. For instance, the sound of a school bell or the noise of a parade may hurt their ears. Some may have trouble eating certain foods because of the way they taste. Others may be very sensitive to certain smells. Smells we like, such as cookies baking, may make them feel sick. On the other hand, things that bother most of us, like a bee sting, may not appear to be as painful to them.

No one knows why some people have autism, and there may be many difference causes. Scientists are still trying to find out just what those causes are and how to best help people with autism. Approximately 1,500,000 people in the United States have autism, and it is more common in boys then girls.

In my previous blog I reflected on my son, Tucker’s experience in his hockey game, stating “it occurred to me that his path to success in that situation mirrors how we, as adults, should pursue success”. Being the parent of an autistic child, I have been blessed to witness Casey’s hard work, dedication and perseverance to be successful. On occasion, I have the good fortune of either driving my son Casey to his junior high school or picking him up after school. Even though he struggles mightily to keep the world around him in order in his own mind to be able to function and make his way through the day, he always cheerfully exits the vehicle, instructs me to have a great day, throws his backpack over his shoulder and marches into his school together with approximately 800 other junior high students. Given Casey’s challenges, I can’t begin to understand the courage it must take for him to make it through each and every day.

Casey is “successful”. The measure of each person’s success is relative to the courage and hard work that gets them through their problems. Often times children with autism are referred to as “special needs children”. In our family, we don’t think of Casey as having “special needs”, we think that Casey has special gifts that we as a family learn from and are inspired by each day.

While we hope and pray for medical and other related advancements to identify autisms cause and a cure, let’s not forget to celebrate the inspiration these individuals can provide to us in our every day lives.

Dan A. Penning (aka proud father)

Tags: Estate Planning, Special Needs Children by Dan Penning
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According to a 2007 census bureau survey, some 6.2% of children ages 5 – 15, a total of 2.8 million children, have disabilities. Individuals with disabilities are living longer than ever. Many disabled children will outlive their parents who support them. The Wall Street Journal published an article on October 9, 2008 titled “An Estate Plan Built for Special Needs”. The piece emphasized the need to make sure that relatives’ estate plans are coordinated. The article pointed out that often times, grandparents and parents of disabled children do not coordinate their plans which can result in a disqualification of the disabled child for certain medical and other supplemental government benefits. In addition, unless a qualified trustee or guardian and conservator are appointed in a parents’ estate plan for their disabled child, assets can be squandered by unscrupulous individuals in charge of these assets. If you have or know of anyone with a special needs child, please do not hesitate to refer them to us for a consultation and review.

Dan A. Penning

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Tags: Know Your Business, Special Needs Children by Dan Penning
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It is estimated that one in five families have a “special needs” member.

Parents with a special needs child worry most about what will happen to that child when they are no longer able to care for him or her. If the family is fortunate enough to own a business, planning for the child’s life after the parent’s death can become complicated.

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As the parent of a special needs child, Attorney Dan Penning knows what is involved in planning for a child’s future.

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For many family business founders, it was the idea of the family working together to secure financial futures that formed the vision and offered the incentive. There must be great comfort in thinking that the business entity will continue to support a child who is unable to support themselves. However, the family business is most likely not the best place to put the financial future of a special needs individual.Individuals with special needs are those who have chronic physical, developmental, behavioral, or emotional conditions that limit their ability to live, think and/or work independently. Basically they are people who cannot make it through life without regular and constant assistance. Certainly there are highly functioning special needs individuals who work successfully, but are unable to perform other life tasks like driving or preparing meals.At some point in the life of the special needs individual, their advocates and caregivers, who are usually their parents, are no longer able to perform those tasks. What happens then?Even the highly functioning individual usually runs into increasing needs as life goes on. While they may be able to work successfully as a young adult, that does not ensure long-term success. A family business could provide the perfect work environment for that special needs individual – a custom designed job around caring folks. Later in life, when his or her parents are no longer involved in the business, how would that continue? Would it make sense to make the special needs individual a shareholder or partner so that they can have some control and reap the benefits of the business?The unfortunate truth is that the special needs individual is likely to end up in a state-supported facility at some point – and likewise become a ward of the state. Funds left to your child may be attached by the government and used in lieu of public funds to pay for the support of the child (who may now be an adult). If your child were to own shares in a business, the state could force the sale and/or liquidation of that business to care for the child. How can you then best provide for the care of your child after your death?Dan Penning, managing partner of Wright Penning & Beamer Attorneys in Farmington Hills, Mich., knows firsthand the difficulties of dealing with these issues. The father of an autistic son who is unlikely to be able to care for himself, Penning specializes in corporate law and is a business owner, but has been through the planning issues from the side of a parent.

“Providing for the financial and custodial well-being of a special needs individual is only a part of planning…a very important part,” says Penning. “We want our son to be well cared for and we want our other children to be involved in his care after we are unable to do so. But, we don’t want to put undue burden on our other children, or guilt-trip them into being our replacements as custodians – although we do expect them to be his advocates.”
Penning says good estate planning is key.

“We aren’t sure where our son will be in the future, but we do want to be sure that the funds are available for him. We have set up a ‘Special Needs Trust’ and funded it with life insurance so that the dollars will be there when they are needed. I referred my own case to an attorney who specializes in Special Needs Trusts. That way our other children will get the benefit of our other assets and our special needs son will be well provided for regardless of what financial path our life takes.”

When asked about using the business asset as a funding mechanism for the Special Needs Trust, Penning says he can’t think of many circumstances that would make sense for the Trust to own the business asset.

“You wouldn’t want the trustee to be forcing the business into bad decisions due to the needs of the special needs individual. If the trustee was also a shareholder in his or her own right, that might constitute a conflict of interest and I would want to avoid that. So, I would recommend a Buy-Sell Agreement, putting the business asset into the hands of the most likely successors to run the business and cash into the estate that can then be distributed to the Special Needs Trust.”

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Marcus Murray says it is a mistake to think that a business can provide for a special needs child.

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Marcus L. Murray, a financial advisor and RN with many other credentials, who is with Mass Mutual/Detroit Financial Group in Farmington Hills, says many business owners have done no planning at all, thinking that the business will continue to provide for
their special needs child.“What a mistake! It is important that the Special Needs Trust be drafted to address issues beyond the financial…to address caretaking, lifestyle and so on. It is important that the parents communicate with the trustees, and a long list of successor trustees, what they have in mind for the care of their child. Then they need to fund the need. I usually recommend life insurance because it doesn’t make sense to fund a trust with real dollars if you can buy dollars.”

Murray adds that many legal issues change when the special needs child becomes of legal age. Caregivers, he says, need to be aware of those changes. Finding the “right” trustees and successor trustees and connecting them with the right legal and financial team is the key to the best long-term care for your loved one.

In the end, no one can be sure that the planning they do will yield the intended results. You can be sure that leaving the financial needs of a special needs individual to a business is a mistake. If you, or someone you love, is in this situation, seek the advice of competent legal and financial advisors – it is the best way to achieve your intended results.

Richard Segal is the chair of the Family Business Council, a membership organization of family-owned businesses. He can be reached at RMSegal@aol.com.

This article originally appeared in Corp! September 2007

Tags: Asset Protection, Estate Planning, Personal Management, Special Needs Children by Dan Penning
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Know Your Business

Suttons Bay - August 2008

In addition to the typical decisions facing parents in estate planning such as who should be a child’s guardian if both parents are deceased, the parents of special needs children are faced with additional estate planning challenges. One such challenge is how to provide for all their loved ones without jeopardizing the special needs child’s current (or potential) eligibility for government benefits. There are several strategies and planning opportunities available to assist in developing estate plans for parents of special needs children. If you or someone you know has a special needs child, please don’t hesitate to contact us to discuss these planning opportunities.

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The information contained in this publication is meant for informational purposes only and is not intended as legal advice. Laws and their application vary based upon a client’s unique facts and circumstances. Wright Penning & Beamer disclaims any responsibility for action taken in reliance on this publication without further consultation and analysis. For questions, please contact us at (231) 271-4500 or at dpenning@wrightpenning.com.
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Tags: Know Your Business, Special Needs Children by Dan Penning
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