Succession Planning

If you are one of the owners of a family-owned or closely-held business, then succession planning is a critical piece of your life and estate plan. For the same reasons it is important to develop and maintain a life and estate plan—tax efficiency, making sure your wishes will be complied with and passing on your wisdom—it is essential for you, and your fellow owners to plan your exit strategy well in advance. Without proper planning by all of the owners of the business there can be unintended and unpleasant consequences. Instead of operating a successful business with your two best friends from college, you may find yourself partners with one friend’s ex-wife and the other friend’s very nice, but not too business-savvy son. Or, you might pass on unresolved business challenges to your heirs, undermining their ability to run a thriving business. Or, after your death, your lack of planning might cause the heirs to have to sell the company you worked so hard to build, just to pay the estate taxes on the value of that company!

Squillace & Associates, P.C. can help you purchase or sell all or part of a business. We can also help you structure agreements (often referred to as “buy-sell” agreements) between all the owners of a business to keep any part of the business from falling into the wrong hands. A buy-sell agreement allows the remaining owners or the company to buy out any single owner’s interest in the event of a divorce, death, or other triggering event such as termination from involvement in the business. To avoid a cash flow or liquidity problem, buy-sell agreements can be funded by life insurance policies on each owner, in an amount sufficient to buy out that owner’s interest in the company.

Please contact us today if we can be of assistance in helping you with your business succession planning at (617) 716-0300 or info@squillace-law.com.