Business owners face an estate planning problem most families never do. The business is usually the largest asset, the most operationally complex, and the most emotionally significant — and it is almost always planned for last.
Across hundreds of family-business conversations, the same seven mistakes appear over and over.
1. Treating the business as a financial asset, not a living entity
An operating business needs a successor, not just a beneficiary. Leaving shares to a spouse who has never been in the office is not a plan; it is a problem deferred.
2. Conflating fair with equal
If one child works in the business and two do not, equal shares are rarely fair. Equity must be balanced against effort, risk and the working child's need for operational control.
3. No buy-sell agreement
If you have co-shareholders, a current and funded buy-sell agreement is non-negotiable. Without one, your family inherits a stranger as a business partner.
4. Founder dependency
If the business cannot run without you for thirty days, it is not yet a saleable asset. Continuity planning is estate planning.
5. No documented intent
Children assume — often very different things. A letter of wishes alongside the will, written while you are well, prevents more family conflict than almost any other single document.
6. Late tax structuring
CGT, Division 7A and trust distributions all reward early planning and punish late planning. Five years before exit is good. Ten years is better.
7. No facilitator
Lawyers draft. Accountants calculate. Neither facilitates the family conversation. That is where succession plans live or die.
We exist to be the facilitator your lawyer and accountant cannot be — and to make sure the other six are addressed before they cost your family anything.