Business Continuation Planning

Why business continuation matters

For a business owner or partner, much of the personal financial picture depends on the business continuing to operate — and on the orderly handling of events that could disrupt it. The death or disability of a key person, the death of a partner whose ownership interest needs to be purchased, the transition of the business through retirement or sale: each of these has insurance implications that the owner should not address through ad-hoc decisions.

Insurance plays a meaningful role in business continuation, but it sits inside a structure largely created by the business attorney. The buy-sell agreement, the operating agreement, the succession plan — these are legal structures that insurance funds. The insurance analysis depends on what the legal structure says.

What this planning area covers

Key-person insurance protecting the business from the loss of essential people. Buy-sell agreement funding — life insurance, disability buy-out provisions — sized and structured to match the agreement. Business overhead expense coverage. Succession-related protection for the business and the owner's family.

Each engagement begins with reviewing the existing legal documents: the buy-sell agreement (if one exists), the operating or shareholder agreement, and any succession-related documents. The insurance design works backward from what these documents require.

How we approach the conversation

The first conversation typically explores the business structure, the partnership arrangement, any existing buy-sell or continuation documents, and what's prompting the discussion now. We work in coordination with the business attorney throughout — and where the existing legal structure is incomplete or outdated, we typically recommend the legal work be updated before significant insurance commitments are made.

The CPA's role matters too: tax structuring of business-owned insurance, entity-level versus owner-level coverage, deductibility considerations. We integrate with their work and don't make recommendations that require accounting expertise we don't have.

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Where insurance ends and other professionals begin

Business legal structures — buy-sell agreements, operating agreements, shareholder agreements, succession plans — are the work of business attorneys. Tax structuring of business-owned insurance is the work of CPAs. We focus on the insurance design that funds what your attorney structures and your CPA advises on. We are the insurance professional in the planning team, not the attorney or accountant.