Creating an estate plan can be a considerable task for just about anybody in California. This is why many people tend to avoid starting the estate planning process. However, estate planning can be even more challenging for those who happen to own businesses. Many business owners may be quite busy running the daily operations of the business that are important to sustain the company.
On the other hand, not having an estate plan can actually be a danger to sustaining the company in the case of something unexpected happening to the business owner. It may be questionable what will happen to a business if the business owner is incapacitated or dies suddenly without an estate plan in place. A good estate plan for a business owner will have a plan for business succession.
However, each situation will require varying solutions that are dependent upon a person’s estate planning goals regarding his or her business. One option is to have the business be sold in the case of an owner’s death and then have the proceeds from the sale of the business go to specified beneficiaries. Others may wish to have a spouse or possibly an adult child continue business operations following a business owner’s retirement or death.
There are various ways in order to ensure a business continues operations in the case of a business owner passing away or becoming incapacitated. However, in order to ensure whatever method one chooses for business succession to work, it is necessary to have the proper estate planning documents with the correct legal language in place. This will require a thorough understanding of estate planning and business laws in California.
Source: yourhoustonnews.com, “Estate planning for business owners“, July 3, 2015