Jennifer M. Boll is a Member at Harris Beach Murtha in Albany, NY, where she focuses on corporate, tax, and estate and business succession planning. She is also the director of the M.S. in Taxation program at the University at Albany and an adjunct professor at Albany Law School. We sat down with Jennifer to hear her perspective on family business governance, succession planning, and what separates the ownership teams that thrive from those that struggle.
Please share a bit of your background with the STRIDE community.
I am a Member at Harris Beach Murtha in Albany, where my law practice focuses on corporate, tax, and estate and business succession planning. I work primarily with privately held businesses, high-net-worth individuals, and nonprofit organizations on everything from mergers and acquisitions to complex trust and estate matters. I’m also the director of the M.S. in Taxation program at the University at Albany and an adjunct professor at Albany Law School, so I split my time between practicing law and teaching the next generation of tax professionals. I’m admitted in New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, and I’ve been doing this work for over 25 years.
How did you come to focus on estate and business planning?
Early in my career I was drawn to the intersection of tax law and business planning — the idea that thoughtful structuring at the right moment can make an enormous difference in what a family actually keeps and passes on. What I didn’t fully anticipate was how deeply personal this work becomes. You’re not just advising on legal documents; you’re helping people think through their values, their relationships, and their legacy. Once I experienced that dimension of the practice, I never wanted to do anything else.
What do you find most gratifying about supporting family businesses?
Family businesses are where governance and emotion meet, and getting that balance right is genuinely fascinating work. What I find most gratifying is helping a family arrive at a structure that actually holds — one that the next generation understands, believes in, and can work within. When you see a transition happen smoothly, with the family intact and the business thriving, that’s deeply satisfying. It doesn’t happen by accident, and it doesn’t happen without honest conversations that are sometimes hard to have.
Can you share a difficult ownership succession you’ve navigated, and how you helped the family arrive at a win-win solution?
One situation that stands out involved a multi-generational manufacturing business where two siblings were set to inherit equal ownership, but only one had been active in the business for years. The passive sibling understandably wanted liquidity; the active sibling wanted control without being bought out at a price that would cripple the company. We worked through an arrangement with the parents to provide for the active sibling through the business and the passive sibling through other assets, including life insurance held in a trust.
Your own family owns and operates a business. Given your experience, what guidance have you been able to offer them in how they work together?
My father owned a business which my brother purchased. I do not get involved in that!
What do the most successful ownership teams do consistently, as a habit?
They communicate proactively and on a schedule — not just when something goes wrong. The best ownership teams I’ve worked with have regular, structured forums where business matters are on the agenda separate from family gatherings. They also invest early in clear documentation: buy-sell agreements, governance policies, defined roles. And perhaps most importantly, they treat disagreement as information rather than disloyalty. When owners can say “I see it differently” without it becoming personal, you have a genuinely healthy team.
What structural elements do the least successful ownership teams tend to lack?
Almost always it comes down to three things: no buy-sell agreement, no defined decision-making process, and no plan for what happens if a key person becomes incapacitated or wants out. Families often avoid these conversations because they feel morbid or pessimistic, but the absence of a plan doesn’t protect the family — it just leaves the hard decisions to a moment of crisis when emotions are highest and options are fewest. A well-drafted shareholders’ or operating agreement is really a love letter to the next generation.
What’s one thing you wish more family business owners understood before they walked into your office?
That succession planning is not an event — it’s a process, and it starts much earlier than most people think. By the time a founder is ready to step back, the window for the most tax-efficient and legally flexible structures has often already narrowed significantly. The families who come in ten years before a transition have so many more options than those who come in ten months before. The best time to plan is when nothing urgent is happening and everyone is healthy and getting along.
About Jennifer M. Boll
Jennifer M. Boll is a Member at Harris Beach Murtha’s Albany, NY office. Her practice focuses on corporate, tax, and estate and business succession planning. She advises privately held companies, nonprofit organizations, and individuals on a wide range of matters including mergers and acquisitions, real estate, financial transactions, and complex trust and estate matters.
Admitted to practice in New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, Jennifer serves a robust client base of corporate and nonprofit clients, as well as high-net-worth individuals. Her extensive experience includes leading teams to advise clients on the sale and purchase of organizations across manufacturing, data analytics, construction, wholesale distribution, retail, hospitality, professional services, and consulting. She also advises businesses and individuals in all areas of tax planning and controversy work, including partnerships, corporations, trusts and estates.
In addition to her legal practice, Jennifer is the director of the M.S. in Taxation program at the University at Albany, State University of New York, and an adjunct professor at Albany Law School, where she teaches courses on partnership tax, state and interstate taxation, tax planning, and research.
📧 jboll@harrisbeachmurtha.com
📞 (518) 701-2706
🏢 Albany, NY — Harris Beach Murtha
