Family Limited
Partnerships & LLCs
Hold your assets under one roof, stay in control, and set the terms for what comes next.
The structure holds only if it is real, and treated that way.
Control stays with you. Ownership moves down.
A family limited partnership holds assets under one roof: you keep control as general partner, while your children hold limited interests and share in the value. An LLC does similar work more simply, and adds a liability shield.
Which fits — or whether to use both — depends on the assets and the goal.
Built to do four things well.
Whether you use a family limited partnership, an LLC, or both.
Keep control
You manage the assets as general partner, even as ownership passes down.
Limit a creditor’s reach
A creditor of a limited partner is often limited to a charging order rather than the assets themselves — though the strength of that protection varies by state and by how the entity is run.
Move wealth efficiently
Limited interests may be gifted at valuation discounts that can reduce gift and estate tax exposure, subject to appraisal and IRS review.
Plan the succession
A structured way to pass a business or portfolio to heirs without losing family control.
Some assets belong inside. Some don’t.
Income-producing and investment assets fit. Your home and your car do not.
Real estate — rental, commercial, or family land.
A family business, or an interest in a closely held company.
Investment portfolios — stocks, bonds, and funds.
Income-producing intellectual property — royalties, trademarks, patents.
The protection holds only if the entity is real.
An FLP or LLC is respected when it is run as a genuine business — separate accounts, real records, decisions documented, formalities kept.
Used as a personal account, or set up only to dodge a creditor already in view, it can be disregarded by a court or unwound by the IRS. How it is run matters as much as how it is drafted, and that is where most of our work goes.
Built to hold, and kept that way.
Design the structure
FLP, LLC, or both — matched to your assets, your family, and how control should sit.
Draft and form it
A partnership or operating agreement that says clearly who controls what, and why.
Fund and gift it properly
The right assets moved in, and interests transferred with appraisals that support the discounts.
Keep it genuine
Records, filings, and formalities maintained, so the structure is respected if it is ever tested.
Frequently asked.
Both hold and protect assets. An FLP is built around family roles — a general partner in control, limited partners who share the value — which makes it a natural fit for passing wealth down.
An LLC is simpler and adds a liability shield around what it holds. Many families use both.
No. As general partner — or managing member of an LLC — you keep control of the assets and the decisions.
Ownership passes to your children over time, but management stays with you.
Because a limited interest cannot be controlled or easily sold, it is appraised below the face value of the underlying assets.
That lower value is what counts for gift and estate tax — subject to a proper appraisal and IRS review.
Often a creditor of a limited partner is limited to a charging order — a right to distributions if any are made — not to the assets or to control.
How strong that protection is depends on the state and on how the entity is run. It is a real feature, but not an automatic one.
Then the protection can fail. A court or the IRS can disregard an entity that is not maintained as a real business.
Keeping it genuine is part of the plan, not an afterthought — and part of what we handle.
Structure it to last.
A confidential consultation on your assets, your goals, and the structure that fits.
Request a consultation