Planning strategies
Business Continuity & Succession
When an owner dies, becomes disabled, or leaves, a closely held company faces obligations that were written years earlier and rarely revisited. We make sure the money is there to meet them.
Who this is for
Closely held companies with more than one stakeholder
Partnerships and multi-owner corporations. Family businesses moving between generations. Companies whose lending depends on a personal guarantee or a key individual. Any enterprise where the departure of one person changes the value, the control, or the creditworthiness of the whole.
The obligations we fund
What tends to be under-covered
Buy-sell agreements
Cross-purchase, entity redemption, and hybrid structures. The agreement fixes a price or a formula; the funding has to keep pace with it. We quantify the current obligation and place life and disability coverage that matches the document.
Key-person exposure
The people whose loss would impair operations, customer relationships, or financing. Coverage gives the company capital to recruit, replace, and stabilize — and reassures lenders.
Loan guarantees & covenants
Personal guarantees and bank covenants that assume a specific person stays involved. Coverage retires or collateralizes the debt if that person is gone.
One-earner concentration
The owner whose income supports both the household and, often, the company’s obligations. We plan for that concentration explicitly rather than leaving it implicit.
What we do
From the agreement to the coverage
- Review the existing buy-sell or succession plan with your attorney, or flag where one is missing.
- Quantify the funding obligation at today’s valuation, and stress-test it against growth.
- Design the life and disability coverage — amount, owner, beneficiary, and premium responsibility — to align with the legal structure.
- Place the coverage on a carrier-independent basis and advocate through underwriting.
- Set an annual review so coverage tracks the company’s value and the agreement’s terms.
A buy-sell agreement with stale funding is not a plan. It is a disagreement waiting for the worst possible moment.
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