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Business Succession Planning

Our Business & Corporate and Estates & Trusts Attorneys can guide your Business Succession Planning

Our business lawyers work closely with our clients on  succession planning through the use of shareholder agreements and buy-sell arrangements. By working closely with our estate planning lawyers, we can also help to assure that these business arrangements are optimal from an estate planning perspective. We have counseled companies throughout Western Pennsylvania.

Having your Business Succession Planning documents in order

We will review (or create) your corporate documents with an eye on the end goal: ensuring the duration of your company. Should your Articles of Incorporation be amended?  Are your Bylaws provisions being followed? Are your minute books current? We can examine your shareholder agreements and analyze if your valuation mechanism reflects current value and do the payment terms still make sense. Estate vehicles such as wills, Powers of Attorney and trusts can create opportunities for gifting strategies and minimize taxes. We work closely with your CPA, Bank and other advisors to create a comprehensive plan.

Understand the events that could affect your Business Succession Planning

For businesses without an obvious line of family succession, we can help you plan how to groom future management and identify key employees as possible future owners. For those who want to pass the business to their heirs, we can discuss estate planning concerns and family dynamics. The right solution for you may even be a sale to a third party. We also urge our clients to think about the three Ds: Death, divorce, and disability. Any of these occurrences can destroy a business. We urge you to plan for the unthinkable.