A Will that fits a business owner's life.
Business assets and personal assets in one coherent plan, alongside your shareholder agreements and corporate documents.
Business Wills cover the personal and business assets of business owners, sole traders and shareholders. They sit alongside shareholder agreements and other corporate documents to ensure smooth succession.
What a Business Will adds to a personal Will.
Business owners often have a Will, but the Will frequently does not reflect the business properly. A Business Will accounts for shareholdings, partnership interests, sole trader assets, business property, and the documents that govern those (Articles of Association, partnership agreements, shareholder agreements). Often, those documents already control what happens to the business interest on death; the Will then deals with the residue.
Where Business Property Relief is available, the Will is structured to preserve it. Where life insurance funds a buy-out under a cross-option agreement, the Will is drafted to fit. Where the family will continue running the business, succession is planned so leadership and ownership transition is clear.
Quoted individually after a free consultation. We will look at your existing corporate documents (or recommend reviewing them with corporate counsel where needed) before quoting, so the Will fits the wider picture.
Common questions.
Usually yes. The shareholder agreement governs what happens to your shares between shareholders; the Will deals with the rest of your estate and any shares that fall outside the agreement. The two need to be aligned.
Yes, but the practicalities depend on whether your children want to run it, whether the shareholder agreement permits it, and whether Business Property Relief is preserved by the structure. We talk this through with you and your accountant or corporate adviser.
What clients often need alongside this.
Business succession planning
Owning a business changes how you plan. We help business owners protect what they have built and prepare for what happens next.
Read moreTrusts
Trusts can protect assets for vulnerable beneficiaries, ring-fence money for grandchildren, reduce IHT exposure or keep wealth in the family across generations.
Read moreInheritance Tax planning
With careful planning, much of an estate can be passed on without an unnecessary tax bill. We work with you, and your other advisers where helpful, to plan properly.
Read more
When you are ready, we are.
Thirty minutes with a qualified consultant, no obligation, with a clear sense of your options at the end.
Or call us on 01304 577 998