Control
- Who can and cannot act as a director?
- What happens on death or incapacity of a director?
Business Succession
As the owner of a successful business, it’s imperative that you have a business succession plan in place in case of death or incapacity, so that your legacy lives on.
Different options for succession planning are available, depending on whether a business is owned by individuals or a company or other entity, whether it is a family business with children entering, or whether individuals have trusts for structuring purposes. Therefore, you need to carefully consider the options, get specialised legal advice, and create a solid business succession strategy for the future.
How we can help
As highly knowledgeable succession lawyers, we have advised countless business owners and their families on business succession planning, creating comprehensive solutions for passing on a legacy.
We work closely with clients to identify their wishes should they pass away suddenly, retire or become incapacitated. We create a plan and agreements to preserve the business, its value and future growth potential.
We do this by establishing sound governance frameworks and creating customised agreements and contracts, including estate planning documents, that protect assets and ensure the business remains strong and aligned with the client’s long-term vision, even after the transfer of business ownership.
We have experience preparing all forms of business succession agreements, including buy-sell agreements (usually coupled with appropriate insurances), shareholder agreements and bespoke family agreements.
Ask a succession lawyer
Every business situation is different, so when considering a business succession plan, clients often have questions for their succession lawyer regarding:
Decision-making
- How are decisions of directors made?
- Setting protocols for key decisions.
- Acquisitions or sales over a certain dollar value.
- Sale of the business/key assets.
- Hiring key staff.
Distribution policy
- Minimum distribution levels.
- How distributions are to be made.
- When distributions can be postponed.
Share transfers
- Who can receive a transfer of shares?
- How can shares be transferred on death?
Death of descendants
- Can a child or partner of the deceased become involved in the business?
Exit strategies
- What happens if a family member wants to sell ‘their share’ in the business?
Our business succession experience
- Preparing family agreements across multiple family groups to assist with transition of control, decision making, incapacity, business control transition, relationship breakdowns. We work collaboratively with families and advisers to document roles and responsibilities, key delegations and strategic guidelines across active second-generation family members, including developing family and board charters for operating key business divisions.
- Preparing bespoke family constitutions to provide governance systems and guidelines for expectations and a pathway for future control and decision making.
- Advising SMEs and family business in relation to their business succession planning, including by way of sale and inter-generational transfer, buy-sell agreements and shareholder agreements.
- Advising high-net wealth clients in relation to family assets and investments (often including family businesses) and assisting them to plan ahead in order to protect and enhance family wealth for the next generation.
- Complex governance issues, including structures for ownership and decision making, and multi-jurisdictional succession planning.
- Establishment of family offices including acting as the legal Advisory Board member for a number of key clients and family groups.
- Advising a family group in relation to their family business to manage the transition of control of that business to members of the next generation active in that business while balancing the interests of family members not active in the business through the division of non-business assets.
- Advising a leading manufacturer in relation to personal and business succession planning for the parents in the family group and the establishment of a framework regarding the future control and succession of business and personal assets, together with an overall review and revision of the business operations including supplier agreements, dealings with third parties and asset protection considerations.
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