Business Succession Planning in Maine
You may not have a home or a stock portfolio to pass onto your children. Your most important asset could be a business that you own. Depending on the nature of the business, how it’s structured, and your specific form of ownership, you and your lawyer will need to devise a specific estate plan to ensure that your business passes on to those you love and trust the most.
Leaving Your Business to Your Family in Maine
Can I pass my business on to my children?
Most businesses in America are family run, and oftentimes, a business is the most valuable asset in our clients’ estates. Ensuring that a business can pass to the next generation is often a big concern, and one that we do not take lightly. We recommend a gradual transfer of power, allowing the next generation to learn the ropes of the business before stepping into management roles. By incrementally increasing their responsibilities, you can smoothly transfer control of the business.
From a legal standpoint, the transfer of a business will depend on its structure. Most often, there are no issues in transferring your stake in a partnership or shares of a corporation, but sometimes issues do arise. Again, it’s beneficial to look into these issues early. You may also need to discuss and negotiate the transfer of your business interests with your partners and biggest clients.
If you want to give control of your business to one child, while still allowing your other children to receive financial benefits, you can transfer voting shares of stock to your intended successor, while leaving non-voting shares to your children. Another possibility to consider is to gradually transfer ownership by gifting shares of your corporation within the annual gift tax exemption.
Business Succession Planning Attorney in Maine
If you own a business in Maine, you need a solid business success plan to ensure everything you have worked for will live on after you have gone. A good business succession plan provides for most contingencies and various circumstances that may take place when you are longer at the helm. Our Maine estate planning attorneys can help you create a legally sound business succession plan so if the unthinkable was to occur, your family will still be able to count on your business for support.
