In today's episode of the IC-DISC show, I sit down with estate planning expert Jonathon Morrison. Listen in as he shares strategic guidance for business owners worth $10+ million on safeguarding wealth in the changing tax landscape.

With the looming December 2025 deadline, Jonathon explains trust structures and exemptions that can freeze business value to minimize estate taxes. From revenue crunching to complex legislation, his expertise cuts through financial jargon.

For those growing rapidly or concerned about legacy, this conversation provides nuanced counsel on leveraging sophisticated legal mechanisms.

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SHOW HIGHLIGHTS

• Jonathon Morrison, an estate planning expert, discusses strategies for business owners to preserve their wealth and protect it from potential estate tax changes expected by December 31st, 2025.


• We examine the importance of proactive estate planning for business owners, especially those with assets ranging from $10 to $100 million, to minimize estate tax implications.


• Jonathon emphasizes the benefits of sophisticated trust structures that can 'freeze' a business's value for tax purposes while providing robust defense against unforeseen events.


• The conversation covers the urgency for business owners to engage in estate planning before the anticipated decrease in estate tax exemptions in 2026.


• We explore how transferring business ownership into special trusts can help business owners maintain control of their assets while reducing their taxable estate.


• A case study is presented, demonstrating how strategic valuation discounts and transferring minority interest to a gift trust can result in significant estate tax savings.


• Jonathon outlines his unique business model, which includes direct engagement with clients, flat fee structures, and comprehensive annual reviews, to provide personalized estate planning services.


• The episode touches on the financial benefits of estate planning, such as savings on estate taxes and protection of inheritances from creditors, lawsuits, and divorce.


• During the podcast, Jonathon shares his personal background, including his passion for car collecting and his roots in Arizona.


• We delve into the complexities of funding designs for gift trusts, stressing the importance of optimizing both the trust structure and the funding strategy for maximum effectiveness.

Contact Jonathon

• Email


• LinkedIn

LINKS

Show Notes

Be a Guest

About IC-DISC Alliance

About Frazer Ryan Goldberg and Arnold LLP

GUEST

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TRANSCRIPT

(AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors)

Dave: Hello, my name is David Spray and welcome to another episode of the IC Disc Show. My guest today is Jonathon Morrison, a senior partner at the law firm of Frazer Ryan Goldberg in Arnold. Jonathon is a highly specialized estate planning attorney for people with large estates, Jonathon has a unique approach and covers a variety of different strategies. I think the biggest takeaway is that if you believe in hyper-focused specialists and you own a privately held business, then Jonathon is probably the guy for you. We covered again a number of different strategies and the urgency of December 31, 2025, why that's so significant for estate tax planning and he also encouraged everybody to address it this year rather than waiting until next year. I hope you enjoyed this episode as much as I did. Jonathon, welcome to the podcast.

Jonathon: Thank you, David. Thanks for having me.

Dave: Where are you connecting from today.

Jonathon: I'm down here in Scottsdale, Arizona. I'm a senior partner with Frazier, Ryan, Goldberg and Arnold. We're the largest trust and estate firm in Arizona. I'm a senior partner focusing on advanced estate planning for large, complex estates.

Dave: Awesome. So I know you went to Arizona undergrad. Are you from Arizona?

Jonathon: Yeah, I grew up here, all 18 years of my life in the same house. I've got a nice-.

Dave: You're like the only one. You're the only that's right, a lot of yeah.

Jonathon: Yeah, so I went to U of A studied finance Accounting, and then I went up to law school in San Francisco. I lived in the heart of the city for about 11 years and met my wife, and then we came back to raise kids here in 2015. So I've got a six-year-old Jack and a three-year-old Rose.

Dave: That's awesome, and I love Scottsdale. I go there every January for the Barrett-Jackson auctions. I always enjoy being there.

Jonathon: Well, you probably saw my bio I am a car enthusiast, collector, track driver.

Dave: Oh, I didn't realize. I didn't realize that. I know cars are like kids, you can't really have a favorite. But if you did have a favorite, what's your favorite?

Jonathon: Over the years I've had a lot of cars, but I primarily drive and collect Bmws, Porsches and Ferraris.no,

Dave: Okay, yeah do you have a 2002?

Jonathon: I don't have a classic 2002, mostly modern stuff. Okay, all the modern sort of m2s, m3s. I usually I only have about three or four cars at a time, unlike a lot of guys, but I swap them every six, twelve months I'm changing them in and out understood,

Dave: So I drove a Tesla model s plaid three years ago and my enthusiasm for gasoline engine just kind of went away.

I always said I was brand agnostic and powertrain agnostic. So at one point I had the Tesla Model S Plaid, I had a Camaro ZL1 convertible six speed and I had a Jeep diesel Grand Cherokee which I had a special order to get the three liter diesel. So I'm like three brands, three propulsion types, but I'm down to actually one vehicle for the first time in a long time, a Rivian R1S, which is by far the best vehicle I've ever owned.

My biggest concern with them is just whether they're going to be in business in another year or not.

Jonathon: Right, right. It's like Fisker they keep coming in and out and I just saw news today they're not doing well. Yeah, I've never driven the Plaid, although my one of my Ferraris is faster than that Plaid, believe it or not?

Dave: Oh wow.That's great. Well, we'll have to talk about it more and I'll be sure to look you up next January on Scottsdale, please do so. We're going to talk about estate planning and I know enough to be dangerous. My listeners and clients are privately held business owners with enterprise values between probably $10 and $100 million. The business represents the majority of their net worth and I understand there's some things going on that have some deadlines that create some urgency, so why don't we get into it? So just start wherever you want to.

Jonathon: Sure, yeah. So those clients are really my clients, mid-market business owners for the most part. My practice, again, we call it advanced estate planning. What that means is the net worth, including business real estate, is high enough to warrant planning beyond just the will and living trust, powers of attorney, the core estate documents that everybody needs. Once you get to a certain wealth level or income level, then you need to start focusing on advanced planning, which encompasses, we joke all the acronym planning, all of those acronyms you hear about in the estate and gift world. So for mid-market business owners, right now generally you're looking at $10 million minimum enterprise value. That warrants a good look at estate planning.

We have the urgency at this point it's not as urgent quite yet which is the time to catch us because there's a limited number of Jonathon Morrisons