April 22, 2022
Article
Many business owners and company directors are potentially vulnerable should death or serious illness cause a major change to their business situation. This unpalatable possibility is something that all too often gets overlooked, it’s uncomfortable considering your own morbidity or mortality.
The high mortality rates seen during the Covid pandemic have caused people to place renewed priority on ensuring the appropriate protection is in place to provide for both their business and their families.
Where death or illness occurs, major disruption can follow, causing potential management disputes and financial pressure on the business. If a shareholding director dies, the surviving directors may have to accept someone from the deceased director’s family taking a decision-making role in the business. It’s easy to see how that could become an intolerable situation.
Where the deceased director’s earning power was instrumental in the success of the business, surviving the reduction in income and finding the money to recruit a suitable replacement – will take significant capital resources that many businesses won’t have available.
Many small, medium-sized enterprises might not survive these challenges, making the protection of the business an absolute priority. Solutions are readily available to enable directors to buy out the deceased director’s shares and provide funding to replace the lost expertise. Many directors assume that the cost of this protection will be prohibitive – but in many instances, it’s available for significantly less outlay than they assume.
Albert Goodman has specialist expertise in this area and can offer an initial discussion free of charge and obligation.