‘It’s time to talk about succession’. It really is. Too many businesses, including family businesses, have no plans for succession, meaning they put the firm at great risk for the future.
Wills, Trusts and Probate solicitor Tasoula Addison spoke to personal finance writer, Felicity Hannah, at NFU Mutual to give her insightful legal input into how to get families to talk about succession. It’s harder than you might think with many families avoiding the issue altogether for a whole variety of reasons, such as not wanting to raise issues, cause issues or upset anyone.
Tasoula said, “Intermediaries such as solicitors and accountants can be invaluable to help focus discussions and ensure that any plans being made are viable from a legal or financial point of view. This ensures that time is not wasted on plans that are ultimately impractical, or have unintended tax consequences.
“An independent person can also take an objective view, and may be able to see a solution to a problem more clearly, simply because they do not have a vested interest in the proposals.”
She added, “For farming businesses, maximising the availability of Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief are a priority. It is possible to inadvertently lose these valuable reliefs due to the way in which assets are structured.”
You can the full article here: NFU Mutual – It’s time to talk about succession.