Professional advice can be invaluable and very essential if you anticipate that your business will have a market value based on something other you’re your personal skills and goodwill when you retire.

Although it is possible to structure your own business succession plan, the use of teams helps you to achieve a greater result.

The team members you choose to help plan your business success will depend upon the size and complexity of your business, its stage on the business life cycle, and your personal career stage.

Taxation and Business Succession Planning

Tax minimization strategies shouldn’t drive the business succession planning process. They should be an integral part of any decisions that are made.

Tax planning involves more than simply minimizing the taxes that you and your business pay on an ongoing basis.

The estate planning process is designed to accomplish the following goals:

• Taking full advantage of tax exemptions available to you and other shareholders when you sell your business.
• Deferring tax liabilities from one generation to the next.
• Reducing any probate fees that may be charged to your estate upon death.
• Structuring your estate to minimize the tax liability of your estate and help ensure that funds are available to cover this liability.

Business Succession Planning And The Business Life-Cycle

Owner’s Financial Planning

Survival Stage

1. Risk Management
2. Premature death
3. Will
4. Estate equalization
5. Disability
6. Critical illness

Retirement planning

1. Registered plans
2. Asset allocation
3. Non-registered saving plans

Other Savings Goals

1. Children’s education
2. Home purchase
3. Tax minimization

Business Continuation Planning
Growth Stage
Key person protection
Buy-Sell agreement

1. Premature death
2. Retirement
3. Disability
4. Critical illness

Business Loan
Executive benefit-planning

Business Succession Planning
Growth Stage
Ownership transition

1. Sell
2. Liquidate
3. Retain in family
4. Successor training
5. Buy-sell agreement among successors

Management transition
Retirement income planning

Estate Planning
Maturity
Will planning

1. Estate equalization
2. Family law

Powers of attorney
Tax planning

1. Estate freeze
2. Share redemption
3. Liquidity

Retirement Income planning
Trust planning

1. Family trusts
2. Spousal trusts
3. “Self-settled” trusts

Philanthropy
Source: Business Succession Planning. A guide for Business Owners Sun Lift Financial, Canada.

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