5 Estate Planning Tips For Small Business Owners

One of the most important, but overlooked, parts of setting up a business is actually having an estate plan for the business owner. People often put off these tougher conversations about their wishes for their small business until it is too late.

Estate planning for small business owners can be a crucial component of preparing for long-term success when setting up their business.

Ensure You Have Enough Insurance

Having enough life insurance and liability insurance can both be very helpful when making an estate plan for your small business. Consider buying enough life insurance so that your business partners or heirs have the liquidity to finalize your business affairs once you are gone.

In the event that a customer or client brings a lawsuit after your death, it is also a good idea to pay the liability insurance for a certain amount of time after your death. 

Draft (or Update) A Will & Estate Plan

A will and an estate plan can be essential documents for anyone’s business. Meeting with one of our estate lawyers is the first step you can make to drafting a thorough estate plan for your business.

Figuring out how your company and its assets get passed can be expensive and time-consuming for your heirs in the event that you die without a will. This can be prevented by drafting your will and estate plan into place as soon as possible. 

Preserve Essential Records

When you are writing your estate plan, you should store them in secure places but make sure that they are easy to find for your successors. Your plan is only effective if it can be accessed after you have passed.

Preserve your records of your estate planning; you can even keep your will and estate documents with your estate planning lawyer. Should they be given to your estate planning lawyer, let your family and business partners know how they can contact your lawyer. 

Communicate About Your Business Succession Plan

A business succession plan allows you to tell how you want your business to run after you have passed. It is important to have these succession conversations with business partners and family.

These plans work most efficiently when they are communicated with heirs and your partners to be put into place while you are still living. 

Strategize To Be Tax Efficient

Taxes are often one of the major concerns for business owners trying to create an estate plan. A big issue when creating an effective estate plan is reducing the need to sell parts of your business to pay estate tax.

Developing your estate plan with us can give you insight into some of those liabilities and give you some options to minimize those liabilities. This can immensely help protect your business and your heirs, too. 

Interested in Working With Us?

If you need any help regarding your estate or other legal matters please reach out to us directly here and schedule a call with one of our paralegals on our scheduling page here.