Succession
Succession planning
For family agribusinesses
Succession, or future planning, is a critical element in ensuring a family agribusiness survives the test of time and the family’s wishes are achieved. Finding time to talk about a succession plan can be difficult given everyday business and family challenges and often it is a potentially sensitive topic.
We help agribusiness families communicate and work together and come up with a succession plan that suits everyone’s needs and expectations.
Solutions, not confrontations
Farming families value relationships and tend to prefer solutions, not confrontations. Possessing the skills of a mediator allows Louise to foster a less adversarial approach when working with families. Non-confrontational, solution-based future planning is vital for families who need to continue to work and live together for generations to come.
Successful future planning involves working with families to achieve personal, family and financial benefits for each generation.
Statistics show that families who start the process of future planning early have a much higher chance of achieving a positive outcome for all family members, as well as their agricultural businesses.
Louise has a genuine understanding of family agribusinesses and the relationships between family members through her experience as a Lawyer, Certified Practicing Accountant and Agribusiness operator.
Louise’s skills as a previously Nationally Accredited Mediator assist families through the intergenerational transition by providing direction and clarity of goals, increased financial awareness and security, and increased opportunities for the business.
A Step by Step Approach: Future Planning for Generational Succession
- Information gathering process
- Establishment of family needs and goals
- Identification of key issues
By utilising her mediation, legal and accounting skills, Louise can assist each of your family members in having a say regarding their needs and goals. This environment makes it easier for various family members to ask tough questions and creates a platform to discuss what the family wants to achieve.
This step assists in building the foundations for how your family can work together towards a common goal. Your family, with our assistance from an integrated legal, accounting and business perspective, will work through options and generate solutions. Options and solutions are put forward for your family to review. When recommendations are finalised, you will be ready to implement your plan.
Once your family has decided on an intergenerational succession plan, the implementation phase is put into place through a “Deed of Family Arrangement.” It documents the action plans for your family’s generational succession.
Your family’s generational succession planning is not complete without considering and implementing estate planning processes. Our services are specific to your family needs and include assistance with:
- Wills
- Powers of Attorney
- Advance Health Directives
- Binding Death Benefit Nominations
- Estate Administration