INDUS Counsel

INDUS Counsel Official page of IndUS Counsel, a Silicon Valley law firm, that represents startups, mid-size companies & Fortune 500 in U.S & international transactions.

A full service law firm servicing businesses and individuals in corporate, commercial, employment, franchising, immigration, IP, real estate and international transactions.

In case you missed it: this week's article on the widow penalty is worth reading before you need it.When a spouse dies, ...
05/29/2026

In case you missed it: this week's article on the widow penalty is worth reading before you need it.

When a spouse dies, the surviving partner doesn't just lose their person. They lose their married-filing-jointly tax status. And for most families, that triggers three separate financial hits: a higher income tax rate on the same income, a Medicare surcharge that did not apply before, and a larger percentage of Social Security becoming taxable.

Most estate plans never address any of it. A Personal Family Lawyer does, because we are there for the family, not just for the documents. This article explains what those hits look like and what couples can do while they still have time.

Link here: https://induscounsel.com/no-one-warned-her-about-the-widow-penalty-her-first-tax-return-did/

Something I hear from business owners every June: "I have a number in my head for Q3."Here is what I have found after wo...
05/28/2026

Something I hear from business owners every June: "I have a number in my head for Q3."

Here is what I have found after working with small business owners through the LIFT framework: a number in your head is not a target. It is an aspiration. It tells you what you want, not what your business can actually produce given the Time, Energy, Attention, and Money available to you this summer.

When I help a client build a real Q3 target, the number itself is only part of the conversation. We look at what that number requires: at current pricing, how many clients or projects does that weekly revenue need? Does that hold up against a summer calendar? And what does it reveal about the Legal, Insurance, Financial, or Tax picture of the business?

Your Q3 number is not just a revenue target. It is a diagnostic. And right now, before the summer starts, is the right time to run it.

Link here: https://calendly.com/ep-induscounsel/free-15-minute-consult

The widow penalty is not a vague concept. It has a specific dollar figure attached to it.In 2026, the standard deduction...
05/27/2026

The widow penalty is not a vague concept. It has a specific dollar figure attached to it.

In 2026, the standard deduction for a married couple over 65 is $35,500. For a single filer, it drops to $18,150. That one change alone creates more than $17,000 of additional taxable income, before anything else in the surviving spouse's financial picture has shifted.

This week's article answers the question: what the widow penalty actually is, and whether your current estate plan addresses it. Swipe through, then read the full article for what you can do about it now.

Link here: https://induscounsel.com/no-one-warned-her-about-the-widow-penalty-her-first-tax-return-did/

Most business owners enter Q3 with a vague sense of what they want to earn and no clear plan for how to get there.By Sep...
05/26/2026

Most business owners enter Q3 with a vague sense of what they want to earn and no clear plan for how to get there.

By September, that vague sense has turned into missed revenue, rushed decisions, and a fourth quarter that has to work harder than it should. Not because you didn't work hard. Not because your clients disappeared. Because you never had a specific target to aim at.

Right now, in late May, you still have time to do this properly. Q2 is not over. You have real data from the first half of the year. You have a few weeks before summer fully takes hold.

This is the window to build a Q3 number that actually means something. This week's blog explains exactly how.

Link here: https://induscounsel.com/do-you-know-your-q3-number-most-business-owners-dont-and-summer-is-why/

Most people find out about the widow penalty from their tax return… when it’s too late.When a spouse dies, the tax code ...
05/25/2026

Most people find out about the widow penalty from their tax return… when it’s too late.

When a spouse dies, the tax code reclassifies the surviving partner as a single filer for the first full tax year after their spouse's death. Same house. Same savings. But a standard deduction that just dropped by more than $17,000, and tax brackets that push the same income into a higher rate, sooner.

This week's article breaks down what the widow's penalty is, and what couples can do now to reduce its impact before it becomes someone's first tax return as a widow.

Link here: https://induscounsel.com/no-one-warned-her-about-the-widow-penalty-her-first-tax-return-did/

"The document looked fine. The bank said no."This is one of the most common situations I see, and one of the most preven...
05/24/2026

"The document looked fine. The bank said no."

This is one of the most common situations I see, and one of the most preventable.
A Power of Attorney that has never been registered at your financial institution is a plan that hasn't been tested yet. Let's fix that before a crisis does it for you.

Let’s book a free 15-minute discovery call today!

Link here: https://calendly.com/ep-induscounsel/free-15-minute-consult

Here's something worth knowing before summer staffing picks up:Misclassifying a worker as an independent contractor when...
05/23/2026

Here's something worth knowing before summer staffing picks up:

Misclassifying a worker as an independent contractor when they actually function as an employee is one of the most common and most costly mistakes a small business owner makes.

The IRS uses three factors to determine classification: behavioral control, financial control, and the nature of the relationship. Getting any of those wrong can mean back payroll taxes, penalties, and potential liability for benefits the worker should have received.

Before you bring anyone on this summer, confirm you have a written independent contractor agreement, that the relationship genuinely qualifies under IRS guidelines, and that you understand your IRS Form 1099 reporting obligations.

A 30-minute conversation with your attorney before the hire costs far less than a misclassification issue discovered during an audit.
We wrote about this, and four other things worth reviewing before Q2 closes, in this week's article.

Link here: https://induscounsel.com/your-mid-year-business-check-in-5-things-to-review-before-summer-and-one-deadline-you-cannot-miss/

In case you missed this one.Earlier this week, we wrote about Powers of Attorney being rejected at banks: a valid docume...
05/22/2026

In case you missed this one.

Earlier this week, we wrote about Powers of Attorney being rejected at banks: a valid document, a family in crisis, a bank that says no.

Most families assume having the right documents means having a plan. It does not. A valid POA, properly signed and notarized, can still be rejected. And when a crisis arrives, the options are much more limited than they would have been six months earlier.

The difference is not a better document. It is having someone who knows your family before the crisis arrives, who has already made sure everything is in place, and who your family can call instead of standing at a bank counter hoping the paperwork holds up.

This week's article covers what that looks like, and how to find out whether what you have will actually work when your family needs it.

Link here: https://induscounsel.com/the-document-that-fails-when-you-need-it-most/

Every item on the mid-year checklist looks straightforward from the outside.Entity structure, agreements, worker classif...
05/21/2026

Every item on the mid-year checklist looks straightforward from the outside.

Entity structure, agreements, worker classification, insurance, and estimated taxes. Each one feels like a quick check.

But each one has layers. Are your contracts enforceable in your state? Does your insurance actually cover the services you're providing now? Has your revenue growth triggered an entity or tax classification change that would save you money? Is the person you brought on this spring genuinely a contractor under IRS guidelines?

These aren't questions with universal answers. They're questions that require someone who knows your specific situation: your revenue, your state, your structure, and how your business has evolved since you last looked.

If you haven't done a mid-year review, we'd like to help you do one.

Let’s book a free 15-minute discovery call today!

Link here: https://calendly.com/ep-induscounsel/free-15-minute-consult

Banks do not usually reject a valid Power of Attorney because they are acting in bad faith.They are trying to protect th...
05/20/2026

Banks do not usually reject a valid Power of Attorney because they are acting in bad faith.

They are trying to protect themselves from liability.

If a bank allows the wrong person to access an account based on a forged, outdated, or revoked document, the bank is exposed. And once the account holder has lost capacity, there may be no one available to confirm that the agent is who they say they are.

So the bank errs on the side of caution.

Sometimes, extreme caution.

Getting the bank’s legal department to accept the document can take two to four weeks. Meanwhile, the utility bills do not wait.

That is why I walk clients through the process of registering their Power of Attorney with each financial institution while the account holder is still alive and capable. I find out which banks require their own internal forms, and we complete those alongside the attorney-drafted document.

I also build a review schedule into every plan, so the document does not age into a liability.

In this week’s article, I explain why valid Powers of Attorney still get rejected, what families can do ahead of time, and why waiting until a crisis can make everything harder.

Read more in this week’s article here: https://induscounsel.com/the-document-that-fails-when-you-need-it-most/

There's a particular kind of business owner who discovers a problem in October.Brought on a new partner in May without u...
05/19/2026

There's a particular kind of business owner who discovers a problem in October.

Brought on a new partner in May without updating the operating agreement. Missed an estimated tax payment in June. Hired a contractor in July who is actually functioning like an employee. By fall, what started as an oversight has become a liability.

Mid-May is still early enough to catch and fix the things that are easier to address now than in December. Q2 isn't over yet. Summer hasn't fully taken hold.

We put together five things worth reviewing before the season shifts, including one deadline that's coming up fast and that most business owners miss entirely.

Link here: https://induscounsel.com/your-mid-year-business-check-in-5-things-to-review-before-summer-and-one-deadline-you-cannot-miss/

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39111 Paseo Padre Parkway, Suite 315
Fremont, CA
94538

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