When two companies propose a merger, there are a lot of things that need to fall into place to make the deal successful. Aside from the business, financial and logistical aspects of the merger, there are various legal issues that must be addressed. This includes submitting the merger to the scrutiny of federal regulators.

Most people are generally aware of the importance of getting an estate plan in place. Regardless of who you are, you can benefit from an estate plan, whether it be a simple or complex one. For family business owners, of course, having an estate plan is particularly important to ensure the success of the business. And, in fact, most family business owners do have estate plans.

It can be hard enough to realize the value of an estate plan. Those who realize such value can still fall into the trap of believing that such a plan is a "one and done" proposition, a set of documents that only needs to be executed once and requires no maintenance. Unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth. Estate plans should evolve, and just as one's financial situation and family members may change, so should the corresponding estate planning documents. Luckily, there are certain milestones that can hint that an estate plan should be given a tune-up, and these life markers are easy to spot.

The JOBS Act of 2012 was meant to loosen the regulations regarding private equity, opening up new classes of investors and freeing entities seeking new investment from solicitation rules put in place before color television existed. Many commentators have criticized the Securities and Exchange Commission for the years and months that have passed without regulations to implement the law. On the other hand, the SEC may have been practicing a deliberate gradualness that will only serve to strengthen the regulations when they do take effect, and Regulation A+, finalized in March, may be proof of that.

Many areas of the law are left unanswered by Supreme Court's decision in Obergefell , but the fundamental question of whether same-sex individuals can marry has now been answered. There have traditionally been many obstacles LGBT individuals face when it comes to estate planning and taxes, but those obstacles have been cleared a great deal by the Obergefell decision. Married same-sex couples now have access to new tools concerning estate and tax planning that will help them benefit in the same ways that only heterosexual marriages have until now.

Planning for a new baby is a constant stream of decisions and questions concerning diapers, cribs, colors, daycare and more, all in the service of preparing your life for a new bundle of joy. What new parents forget in the hustle and bustle of bringing a new life into the world is that the state and federal revenue services both have a little joy of their own to add to the equation in the form of tax breaks.

In the business world, the unexpected can happen. That is just a fact of life. There are many ways this principle can apply, but we’ll speak here specifically about the unexpected departure of a business owner or corporate official. This could come about because of an untimely passing, or because of an unexpected retirement. Whatever the case may be, whenever an important business leader passes on there is the potential for the business to experience a period of turbulence and destabilization.

An LLC is a fairly limitless business form. Generally, an LLC can be and act in any number of ways, tailored to how you want your company to operate. The Kentucky LLC statute provides several gap-filler provisions, but most of these can be overridden by the terms of the operating agreement, making the operating agreement a nearly indispensable part of any LLC.

In our last post, we spoke about the importance of businesses being aware of their fiduciary responsibilities and establishing solid compliance policies to ensure they are meeting their legal obligations. One area where this is particularly important for companies sponsoring retirement plans under ERISA, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. Because these plans constitute an important source of support for many Americans after they leave full-time work, companies who sponsor these plans have a large responsibility.

The term fiduciary is an important one in the business world, and refers to relationships in which trust is place in one party to manage and protect the assets of another. The relationship entails what is commonly referred to as fiduciary duties, which include the obligation to manage assets for the benefit of the individual or entity who entrusts the assets.