Don’t leave succession to chance

Leaving things to chance could place the business you have dedicated an enormous amount of time and effort to building in a perilous position and could short change your loved ones.

The value of a will should not be underestimated, providing your family with the security needed during an understandably turbulent period. But making a will can’t do everything. For example, it can’t force someone to buy the shares you held in your business. So how would your family benefit financially from the business you built up before your death?

A cross option agreement gives the surviving business owners the opportunity to purchase the shares owned by the deceased. The agreement can stipulate the price and how the surviving owners will fund the purchase. Typically this is via life insurance, using the proceeds to purchase the remaining shares of the business upon the death of one of the owners.