How Can I Protect My Business If Something Happens To Me? 

Most small business owners are focused on how to build their business and make it more profitable, and overlook determining what will happen when they are no longer able to manage their business. 

Business succession planning is the process of developing a plan for someone to take over ownership or management of a business in the event of the owner’s retirement, disability or death. Essentially, it involves protecting their business assets by planning how they want to transfer control of their business to other individuals.

There are many options to provide small business owners with Asset Protection. It’s a core part of your business planning, to have a way to keep your business assets financially protected from risks.

Some of the most important business Asset Protection strategies available to Florida small business owners include:

• Florida LLC development
• Purchasing business liability insurance
• Creating a will and trust
• Maintaining separate personal and business financial accounts

How Business Asset Protection Planning Can Protect Your Small Business

Your business is likely your largest asset. Business asset and protection planning is an essential part of Estate Planning so that your assets and your loved ones are protected if you can no longer manage your business.

Wills and Trusts

Having a will and trust can help you to safely protect your assets when passing them down to your heirs. If you should die unexpectedly, a will provides the court with very specific steps to take to disperse your assets, including your business. However, creditors can file a claim against your assets, including your business.

A trust offers more protection in that it helps to safeguard anything within the trust from some types of creditor claims. Your Estate Planning attorney can help you to create a trust to put in place protections for your company over the long term.

Managing Your Finances

It’s important to protect your business by keeping your personal assets separate from your business assets. Having separate checking and savings accounts, for example, helps minimize any of the risks associated with the way your business is run.

You want there to be a clear division of money coming into and out of your business for just business purposes. Pay yourself from those funds. Don’t use the same accounts (whether a debit or credit card) to make purchases for your personal needs. Creating this type of break helps to make it clear your business remains a separate entity, and will protect your loved ones and your business.

How Can a Business Asset Protection Attorney Help You?

A business Asset Protection attorney has expertise in both business succession planning and Estate Planning. Not all Estate Planning attorneys have experience with business succession planning, so it’s important for small business owners to hire an attorney with business planning expertise.

When you contact our Business and Asset Protection Attorneys in South Florida, we can work with you to determine where things stand right now. Even if your assets are not separated as they “should be” just yet, we can work with you to create the protections you need. Then, you can begin to work to create a strategy for protecting your assets beyond this, including a will, trust, and liability insurance.

The worst mistake you can make right now is to do nothing. The sooner you take action to structure your assets for your business, the more protections you put in place for your company. Reach out to our team today. Let us provide a consultation to you to discuss your options.

Creating a business succession plan for your company helps you to have peace of mind no matter what is to come. A clear plan also helps your heirs know how to handle your property after your death as well.

You worked hard to build a successful business.
The Siegel Law Group, P.A. wants to help create a plan to protect it.

How do you protect your Florida business? You give us a call. Contact our South Florida Business and Asset Protection Attorneys when you need to create a strategy to minimize risk to your company and protect your loved ones.

Call our office at (561) 955-8515(561) 955-8515 for a complimentary consultation, or submit our online contact form to schedule a consultation today. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact us.