32
Years in Bozeman
$450M
Assets under management
9
People
Each service grew out of real situations we've handled for Gallatin County families and business owners.
For families selling acreage, timber, or grazing land. We work through conservation easements and mineral rights so the sale reflects the whole picture, not just the price.
For Bozeman owners who built something over decades and are ready to sell. We plan the exit alongside your attorney and accountant, before the deal is signed.
Turning a sale or a lifetime of savings into income that lasts. We plan for what you'll spend, what you'll owe, and what you'll leave behind.
For clients who want to support causes that matter to them, in a way that fits their tax picture and their family's goals.
Keeping a ranch, a business, or a portfolio in the family across generations, with a plan that holds up when the next generation takes over.
Mineral rights can be sold with the surface land, kept separate, or split into a partial interest. Each choice changes your tax picture and what you can pass on later. Ellen Marsh works with your attorney to review the mineral rights before a sale is signed, so the decision is made on purpose and not left as an afterthought in the closing paperwork.
Most owners start thinking about this too late. Cole Brandt generally recommends starting two to three years before a target sale date, because structure, timing, and tax planning all take time to set up properly. Waiting until an offer is on the table limits your options and can cost you more at closing than it needs to.
A conservation sale, often through an easement, usually trades a lower purchase price for tax benefits and permanent restrictions on how the land can be used or developed later. A market sale to a private buyer or developer typically brings a higher price with no restrictions. Which one fits depends on your family's goals for the land and for the money.
A fiduciary is legally required to act in your best interest, not just recommend something suitable. Advisors at Great Buffalo Private Wealth act as fiduciaries when providing investment advisory services. Ask any advisor you're considering, in Bozeman or anywhere else, whether they are a fiduciary at all times or only in certain situations.
Most advisors charge a percentage of assets under management, a flat fee, or some combination of the two. Fees vary by firm and by the complexity of the work involved, especially with land or business transactions. Great Buffalo Private Wealth can walk you through how fees apply to your situation during a first conversation.
Taxes on a ranch sale depend on how long you've owned the land, how it's titled, and whether mineral rights or an easement are part of the deal. There is no single answer that fits every family. Ellen Marsh works alongside your accountant to map out the tax picture before the sale closes, not after.
Before you decide where the money goes, it helps to understand what you'll actually keep after taxes and any debt tied to the sale. Rushing into new investments right after closing is a common mistake. Cole Brandt and Ellen Marsh typically start by reviewing the sale structure itself, then build a plan around what's left.
Schedule a Conversation and one of us will call you personally. No pressure, no pitch. You will hear from one of us within one business day.
Schedule a ConversationWe work with a small number of Montana families and business owners, most of them in the middle of a real transition. If you see yourself below, this is familiar ground.
You've ranched a section outside Livingston or somewhere close to it for decades, and now there's a sale on the table, maybe to a conservation buyer. The money is bigger than anything you've handled and the tax questions are real.
You built a construction company or another Bozeman business over thirty years, and now you want out. You need the sale structured before it's signed, not scrambled after.
You want to leave land, a business, or savings to your kids and grandkids without forcing a sale or a fight. You want the plan simple enough to explain at your own table.
"I just sold the ranch. What happens to my taxes now?"
Ellen works alongside your attorney and accountant so the structure is set before you sign, not after.
"I sold my company. What do I actually do with the money?"
We help you turn a lump sum into a plan for retirement, family, and the causes you care about.
"Can I leave the land to my kids without forcing a sale?"
Cole works through easements and succession options built around your family, not a template.
This is how the work moves, from the first phone call to the years after a sale closes. No step is a sales pitch. Each one is something that actually happens.
One of us sits down with you, listens to what's changing, land, business, or both, and asks questions before we say much of anything.
Ellen looks at the tax picture, easements, mineral rights, or a business sale, and works alongside your attorney or accountant before anything is signed.
We put the proceeds, the property, and your goals for the kids and grandkids into one plan you can actually follow.
Nora keeps the calendar and the follow-through, so review meetings, calls, and the quarterly letter keep coming without you having to chase us.
