For nearly 20 years, the Socius Law Firm has served a diverse client base of small and medium-sized businesses throughout Worcester County and Metro West Boston. And we’ve seen the impact of no business succession planning.

In the event of a key person’s sudden death, illness, or retirement, businesses are frequently left scrambling to find a suitable replacement. Working with a business succession planning attorney, your small business can establish a proper succession plan to avoid a chaotic transition.

If you are an owner or shareholder, and do not have a succession plan in place, your stake in the company is either passed on to relatives as part of the estate, absorbed by other shareholders, or a combination of the two. In family-owned businesses, this often leads to disputes between siblings and other relatives. Those more active in the day-to-day operations of the business may feel entitled to larger shares than others who are less involved.

In other circumstances, employees and clients may leave the company for fear of instability. Additionally, without prior planning, remaining shareholders may not have sufficient resources needed to purchase the shares of the exiting or deceased shareholder. This can lead to a situation where a spouse or child of a deceased shareholder attains an ownership stake in the company which can result in disputes, stalling progress and possibly leading to a loss of assets.

Furthermore, if the exiting shareholder had a management duty, her replacement may not be equipped to take over her role through such a delicate transition time.

As a Westborough business law attorney, the Socius Law Firm offers expertise in business and estate planning to help owners and shareholders formulate a proper business succession plan that facilitates a smooth transition.

Socius’ Business Succession Planning Services are tailored to fit your business model and typically addresses the following goals:

With so many factors to consider in proper business succession planning, it is important that you choose an experienced business succession planning attorney who can understand all of the interests at stake and work with you to protect them.