Business Succession Planning
Many years of effort have gone into building your family business, and you want the value that you have created to support your retirement. You also want your successors, whether they are children, other relatives, or talented partners, to thrive in the future. A business attorney in Indiana can listen to your goals and help you select the right business succession strategy for your purposes. Succession planning is often a delicate process that involves making long-term financial decisions and managing the possibility of disputes among family members.
Business Succession Planning Takes Time
Even if your retirement is five, ten, or fifteen years away, the time to select a successor and develop a plan is now. Waiting will only deny you opportunities to groom and train a qualified successor, accurately value a closely held business, or create a buyout agreement that extends across many years.
Consulting a business attorney at Webster & Garino will inform you about common problems family businesses encounter during these crucial transitions. Our legal advice could help you navigate complicated discussions with potential successors and resolve conflicts that might arise among family members.
Many Succession Strategies to Consider
Legal advice will help you determine which approach to business succession will best serve your needs. You could sell your business interest outright for cash or other assets, and an attorney might help you understand the tax implications of this choice. You might prefer to draft a buy-sell agreement that becomes active upon certain events, such as disability, death, retirement, or divorce. More complex arrangements, like a grantor retained annuity trust or private annuity, could generate retirement income long-term and even provide support for a surviving spouse.
A business attorney in Indiana might develop an instrument called a self-canceling installment note, which forms a promissory note for the transfer of the business on a payment plan. Family limited partnerships present another way to shift business control to family members by transferring the company into a partnership structure. This strategy could allow you to make gifts of business assets to relatives.
Focus on Business Interests
Choosing a successor can be an emotionally difficult decision for all involved. An impartial evaluation of your long-term business interests might help you overcome conflicting opinions within your family. Succession is often a delicate time for a family business. A carefully thought out plan that focuses on continued business success and retirement funding could deliver lifelong rewards for all parties.
Meet With an Attorney
At Webster & Garino, we will provide you with essential insights about business law in Indiana. Make an appointment at our office and start planning your business succession today.
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