Business succession is an important part of your estate planning since it involves the transfer of ownership of one of your most prized possessions. Planning for business succession is preparing for eventualities — some lovely to contemplate, some necessary to prearrange. Because your business is something you have worked hard to maintain and possibly expand, what happens to it after you no longer manage it is of significance to you and your family. That’s where our Houston business succession lawyer comes in.
At Your Legacy Legal Care in Houston, we understand the complexities of business succession in Texas and how to handle them skillfully. Consulting with us about your business succession, as well as about the rest of your estate planning, is a wise move. We are adept at negotiations, familiar with federal and state tax laws, and well aware of the details of business successions regarding partners, lenders, creditors, and third parties.
Why Business Succession Planning Is Essential
As a business owner, you are cognizant that meeting the day-to-day needs of your clients and employees is not sufficient. If you want your business to succeed you must always be thinking about long-term goals and planning for the future. While many people routinely consider whether they will be expanding or downsizing, hiring, or laying off employees, they sometimes forget that planning for how the company will function without them is also critical.
Whether you want to retire at a certain age or simply prepare for contingencies, you should consult with us to keep the business you worked so hard to build intact as part of your legacy.
If you’re being rational about the future, you have to plan for:
- Desired or necessary retirement
- Your death
- Your incapacity
As a law practice that specializes in business succession, Your Legacy Legal Care knows precisely how to create a business succession plan suited to meet your particular needs and goals. We will also see to it that your business succession is in sync with all other aspects of your estate plan. We are committed to protecting you and your loved ones and realize that seamlessly integrating your business succession plan with the rest of your estate plan is part of that protection.
The Business Plan Itself
Business succession plans must be customized to your particular situation. It makes a big difference in strategizing, for example, if you want to keep your business in the family or eventually to sell it to the highest bidder. Whichever you plan to do, there are two aspects of business succession planning that must be considered:
- How your business will be transferred to a new owner when you decide to retire and/or sell your business
- What provisions you want to make in case you die or become suddenly incapacitated
The first scenario presumes that you will be alive at the time you decide to transfer your business to someone else. For this purpose, our savvy business succession planning attorney will help you draft your original succession documents and will make sure to help update them regularly as your circumstances change. In order to facilitate a smooth transition when the time comes, we will also assist you in communicating your chosen plan to your family and employees.
Planning for emergency business succession may be more emotionally taxing in the short term, but it will make life much easier for your loved ones, should the worst occur. The future is unknown to all of us, and it is not a rarity for a business owner (or anyone else) to die or become incapacitated unexpectedly.
Unless you have a plan in place, your business may come to halt or may die a slow death. In either case, your family may be left with financial instability and uncertainty about how to proceed — all this while they are simultaneously dealing with your sudden incapacity or death.
Who Will Take Over?
Succession planning for your small business ensures that someone is designated to take over managerial duties temporarily or permanently and that he or she has access to the financial resources necessary to pay the business bills or as they come due and to make necessary business purchases.
The individual you choose to take over should be knowledgeable about the workings of your business as well as trustworthy and should be available on short notice to step in and take over. Whether a member of your family or not, this person should have the leadership qualities necessary to take the helm. As your business succession attorneys, we will make sure that all required papers are signed and delivered to the appropriate parties at the appropriate times so that your business continues to function efficiently.
You Can Count on our Houston Business Succession Attorney
As with any long-term plans, business succession plans should provide various alternatives. Your Legacy Legal Care’s skilled business succession attorneys will help you consider what should happen if the person you designate to take your role is unable to do so when the need arises or if you are planning for the business to be sold, whether you want to sell only part of the business so that you or your family will retain some interest in it.
Whatever you decide to do, remember that Your Legacy Legal Care is on your side. We are dedicated to keeping your business active and thriving for as long as you want it to be and to see that your wishes are followed. We look forward to helping you create the business succession plan that feels right to you. You can contact us by phone at our Houston office or by filling out a contact form on our website.
