Passing Down a Family Business to the Next Generation
By Spiro Verras
You’ve worked for years to build your business into what it is today. If it’s time to begin the next chapter in your life, you may want to pass down your family business to the next generation. Transferring your business to your children is...
Estate Planning Tips for Small Business Owners
By Spiro Verras
A small business can represent years of work, important relationships and a meaningful part of a family's financial security. Including it in your estate plan helps the people who may someday need to manage, transfer or sell it understand what you intend.
Consider the available pathsThere...
What Is a Family Limited Partnership (FLP)?
By Spiro Verras
A family business or investment portfolio often needs a plan for both management and eventual transfer. A family limited partnership, commonly called an FLP, can be one way to bring those decisions together. It is a legal structure to evaluate as part of a broader...
What Should Be in Your Business Succession Plan?
By Spiro Verras
A business succession plan addresses what should happen when an owner retires, becomes unable to work or dies. For a family business, it also helps connect the owner's personal estate plan with the needs of employees, co-owners and the next generation.
Begin with your goalsDecide whether...
Avoiding the Drama of “Succession” with a Business Succession Plan
By Spiro Verras
The television drama Succession makes uncertainty about a family business compelling entertainment. In an actual business, owners usually prefer clarity: who will make decisions, how ownership will change, and how employees and family members will be supported through the transition.
A business succession plan gives...
What to Include in a Business Succession Plan
By Spiro Verras
A business succession plan should help the next leader understand both the business and the responsibilities that come with it. Ownership documents matter, but day-to-day continuity also depends on people, preparation and a workable transition schedule.
Choose and prepare a successorBegin by identifying the qualities the...
Estate Planning for Business Owners
By Spiro Verras
A business often represents years of work, relationships, and responsibility. Estate planning for its owner should address who will own the business, who can manage it, and how a transition will be funded if the owner becomes incapacitated or dies. Those decisions are easier to...
Exploring Family Limited Partnerships (FLPs)
By Spiro Verras
A family limited partnership can provide a structure for owning and managing a business or investment assets together. It may also support a succession plan, but the benefits depend on the legal structure, the partnership agreement and how the arrangement is actually operated.
Understand the entity...