Business And Succession Planning Can Safeguard Your Work Legacy
What’s going to happen to your business when you’re no longer there to run it? If your answer is “I don’t know,” you’re not alone. Recent surveys of business owners consistently show that roughly one-third of owners have no clear succession plan for retirement.
Life can change quickly – planning now makes decisions later much easier. Leaving your business without a plan for succession can negatively impact both your family and the surrounding community. I’m Mark A. Werner, a business succession planning attorney based in Pittsburg and serving the entire southeast Kansas area. I can help you craft a succession plan, no matter the size of your business or the complexity of its legal structure.
Why Succession Planning Matters In Southeast Kansas Now
Beyond the more general reasons of protecting legacy and ensuring business continuity, there are several factors closer to home that make succession planning urgent in southeast Kansas.
- In the rural Midwest and Upper Midwest, around 45 percent of business owners are age 50 or older, according to the North Central Regional Center for Rural Development.
- The Small Business Development Center at Fort Hays State University notes that just 30 percent of Kansas’s family-owned businesses continue to operate into a second generation.
- In rural areas, finding an attorney with experience in business law and estate planning to assist you with protecting your business can be challenging.
At the Law Office of Mark A. Werner, I have spent more than 40 years advising southeast Kansas businesses on the best options for selling, gifting or otherwise transferring their business after they leave it. I have deep roots in the community and my practice is committed to helping local families and companies thrive.
How Business Succession Planning Works
When you come to my law firm for assistance with business succession planning, these are the steps I will take to ensure your business transition happens smoothly.
- I’ll review your business formation documents to determine what Kansas law has to say about how succession should proceed.
- If you have buy-sell agreements in your organizing documents, we’ll review them to see if they need to be updated.
- I will align your business documents with your personal estate planning documents, including your will, any trusts you may have initiated and your powers of attorney declarations.
- Next, I will help you develop an accurate valuation of your enterprise. This step is critical, as it influences other decisions related to gifting the business, buyout plans and how to fund trusts.
- In addition to planning for what happens after you retire, we’ll also draw up plans covering how the business should be run – and by whom – if you become incapacitated or die unexpectedly.
- I will review the federal tax implications of your plan, specifically accounting for the permanent estate tax unified credit limits adopted in 2025 effective in 2026, to protect both your business and your heirs’ financial health.
- Finally, I can offer counsel on the legal steps needed for a leadership transition and how to gradually increase the level of your successor’s involvement and decision-making.
Each of these steps can be adapted to your individual circumstances, preferences and concerns.
Business Planning Services For The Life Of Your Enterprise
I would be a far less effective business succession planning attorney if all I did was business law. My work in estate planning and commercial real estate means I can represent your business in situations where inheritance, property or local zoning questions are present.
My experience within the field of business law is similarly wide. As we work through your business succession plan, I can help you:
- Restructure your business legally if needed
- Revise key operating agreements and contracts
- Update buy-sell agreements and other documents that spell out how ownership shares should be transferred and valued
I’ve served businesses as an attorney, a bank executive and as past chairman of the Pittsburg Chamber of Commerce, and a former member of the Pittsburg Economic Development Advisory Committee. I’m in touch with the region’s economic opportunities and challenges, and leverage my professional skills to help companies start strong, grow and prosper, and continue on into the future successfully.
Your Trusted Partner For Business Transitions Across Generations
You can’t predict the future, but you can shape it by the decisions you make today. This is especially true when you’re considering what will happen to your company after you retire. Let’s start a conversation about how I can help you map out the future of your enterprise, whether you’re local to southeast Kansas or have an out-of-state business interest. Call my office for an initial consultation at 620-206-4082. You can also request an appointment by using my online contact form.
