3 Vital Elements of Business Succession Planning

Whether it is a large company or a mom-and-pop corner store, continuity is important to the success of a business. Considering how a business will continue to operate if an owner or manager leaves is critical to ensuring a smooth transition and continued stability. A business succession plan can help you identify critical roles and processes, nurture existing talent in your organization and develop specific procedures for when a position becomes vacant. An experienced business succession planning lawyer can help you understand the important elements that can protect your business and ensure it stays stable when someone retires, becomes ill, passes away, or leaves for any reason.

A Strategic Plan

Business succession planning is a multifaceted process. To have a strong foundation for your plan, it is a good idea to evaluate the current state of your business and think about where it might be headed over the next few years. A few important things to consider are your financial and human resources, potential risks that may require you to make changes, and developing a strategy to fit all components of your plan together. Sitting down with a business contract lawyer to assess your business and create a strategic plan can help to ensure none of these vital elements are overlooked.

An Estate Plan

As an entrepreneur, considering the financial future of your business is essential, but estate planning is also an important element of your overall business succession plan. Think about your current personal goals and whether you have the financial resources to fund these goals into retirement. Going over your assets, future cash flow projections, and the impact of projected investment, inflation, and tax implications with an estate law attorney can help you set realistic goals and figure out ways to protect your family’s and your business’s interests. Having an effective estate plan in place often makes it easier to step away from your business when it comes time to retire.

Leadership Transitions

Another key element of business succession planning is determining how leadership responsibilities will be passed on to successors. However, before you can decide how responsibilities will be transferred, you have to consider who is able and willing to take them on. Identifying the person (or people) who have the ability and desire to take over leadership positions is a crucial component of any business succession plan. Providing guidance and training to these future leaders is critical to your company’s success. Once these matters are settled, you can begin to figure out how ownership and management transitions will take place.

For example, if you own a real estate development company, you may want to consult a real property lawyer who is well-versed in succession planning to help you identify potential successors. Your attorney can also advise you on how your business can facilitate a smooth transition in the face of both unexpected and planned events. Each business is different. Hiring a business lawyer who has specific experience in your industry can make all the difference when it comes to creating a solid business succession plan.

This blog was originally posted at https://carosella.com/blog/3-vital-elements-of-business-succession-planning/

Estate Planning for Business Owners: What You Need to Know

Most business owners juggle many different tasks every day. While estate planning may cross your mind once in a while, it’s often a subject that takes a back seat to more immediate matters. However, planning for the future is crucial if you want to ensure your interests are protected and your family is well taken care of after you are gone. An estate law attorney who is experienced in working with business owners can help you create a plan that is tailored to meet your specific personal and professional concerns.

Why Do I Need an Estate Plan?

Everyone can benefit from estate planning, but it’s especially critical if you own a business. Along with business succession planning, it can help to ensure that your company survives should you become incapacitated or pass away. A well-crafted estate plan makes it easier for your loved ones to make important decisions on your behalf if necessary.

In addition, your estate plan lays out your wishes and makes the distribution of your estate run much more smoothly, and can help your family avoid the headaches and extra costs of probate. Business succession planning lawyers are usually well-versed in estate planning and can help you create a comprehensive plan that addresses all your needs. Your lawyer can also help you understand how a well-crafted estate plan can help minimize your heirs’ estate and inheritance taxes after your passing.

Estate Planning Basics

Most estate plans include vital documents such as:

• Power of attorney for health care
• Power of attorney for finances
• Advance directive
• Last will and testament

Life insurance is also a must for business owners. Have your attorney review any existing life insurance policies, or talk to them about the amount and type of insurance to get. It is also a good idea to purchase disability insurance, which provides coverage if you suffer from a long- or short-term disability.

Another estate planning tool to consider as a business owner is a trust. For example, if your spouse has power of attorney to run your business, in many states they are not allowed to use any business assets to their benefit – even paying themselves a salary unless it is approved by the court. However, if you put business assets in a trust, your spouse would be able to access them without court approval.

Buy-Sell Agreement

A buy-sell agreement enables you to set a sale price for your business and your share of the business. You can also specify whether you want any partners to buy out your share or prevent certain people from having a role in the business in the event of your passing.  Regardless of whether partners or an outside party is purchasing your business, having a business contract lawyer draft a buy-sell agreement can make things much easier for your beneficiaries, as they will know the value of your business or your share.

Sorting Out Family Issues

If you are the owner of a family business, you probably already know that working with the ones you love can be challenging. Things can quickly get messy when a business owner dies – in many cases, some adult children may be involved in the business, while others are not. It is important to determine and specify how you want your assets to be divided and distributed. Each family situation is unique. Talking to your attorney about your wishes can help you determine the best way to distribute both personal and business assets in a “fair” manner.

For instance, if you own a retail store and your daughter is interested in taking over your business but your son is not, you may want to consider bequeathing the business to her and other non-business assets to your son. Although conversations about estate planning with family members and business partners can be difficult, keeping lines of communication open can benefit everyone in the long run.

Regardless of what type of legal issues you may be facing, our team of business attorneys, estate planning attorneys and real property lawyers work collaboratively to help you find creative solutions.

This blog was originally posted at https://carosella.com/blog/estate-planning-for-business-owners-what-you-need-to-know/

Why Do You Need Lawyer to Help with Estate Planning

Creating an estate plan is vital to protecting your family’s rights and interests, but many people neglect this aspect of planning for the future or believe that a basic will is enough. However, there is much more to estate planning – important documents like powers of attorney and advance directives can safeguard your rights if you become unable to make decisions for yourself.  An experienced estate law attorney can assess your circumstances and help you create a plan that is tailored to your specific needs.

Why Do I Need an Estate Plan?

Whether you are of modest means or extremely wealthy, anyone can benefit from having an estate plan. Life-changing events can happen in the blink of an eye, and being prepared in the event of an accident, illness or death can help give you peace of mind, knowing that your family will be taken care of. It does not matter how old you are – the sooner you start planning, the better.

How a Wills and Trusts Lawyer can Help

Although there are DIY ways to create estate planning documents, having a wills and estate attorney assist you with the process is vital. A lawyer can help to ensure all documents are properly drafted and executed, which can cut down on family conflict and make things much easier at an already difficult time. Airtight powers of attorney are also important to protect your rights should you become incapacitated.

If you’re divorced, you probably have a local divorce attorney who handled your case. However, it’s critical to ensure your estate plan is up to date after major life events like marriage, divorce, and the birth of children or grandchildren. The distribution of assets can often get messy when multiple marriages and children are involved. A wills and trusts lawyer can advise you of your options and help you create an estate plan that ensures your assets are protected and appropriately distributed in the event of your death.

What is Probate?

One major reason to hire a good wills and trusts attorney is to help your family avoid the probate process. When someone dies, their estate may have to pass through the probate court to be distributed to their heirs and beneficiaries. This process can be lengthy and costly and makes some if not all of the information about your estate public. If you’re concerned about privacy issues, potential family conflict, or other problems, probate attorneys can help you understand how the process may apply to your specific situation and what you can do to try and avoid it.

Common Estate Planning Documents

An estate planning attorney can draft the following documents, which help safeguard your interests and ensure that your wishes are carried out as specified:

• Will
• Power of attorney for health care
• Power of attorney for finances
• Advance directive
• Living trust
• Other types of trusts

Each situation is unique. Your lawyer can advise you on the best ways to protect yourself, your assets, and your family. In some cases, this may involve setting up trusts so certain assets do not have to go through probate. An attorney can also figure out how to structure your estate plan to help minimize the tax burden your family may incur when your estate is distributed.

Do you need help creating an estate plan? Our experienced wills and trusts lawyers can help.

This blog was originally posted at https://carosella.com/blog/why-do-you-need-lawyer-to-help-with-estate-planning/