Ward and Smith:  “Some of the most heartbreaking situations we see in our closely-held business and estate practices are families torn apart over differences in dealing with family-owned businesses. When there are problems with family-owned businesses, people tend to think with their hearts, rather than their brains, and often take unreasonable positions that are counterproductive to reaching a satisfactory resolution.  Often, the personal relationships among the family members continue to suffer until the business issues have been resolved, and even for a long time afterwards.”