Episode #79
What Happens to Your Business When You’re Gone?
A business can be profitable, growing, and doing everything right, but still have a serious weakness nobody wants to talk about: what happens if the owner suddenly can’t run it anymore? Brandon Andres Green sits down with Jamie Miller of J. Miller Law Firm to talk about business succession planning, estate planning, buying and selling companies, probate, and the legal problems business owners often don’t discover until something has already gone wrong. Jamie explains that many of those problems actually start at the very beginning. Forming a business with the Secretary of State may be relatively straightforward, but that doesn’t mean the business has everything it needs behind the scenes. That becomes especially important when there are multiple owners. What happens if one partner dies? Becomes disabled? Wants out? Gets divorced? Or leaves their ownership interest to family members the other partner never intended to be in business with? Jamie says the best time to answer those questions is when everyone is healthy, getting along, and nobody is under pressure. We also talk about what should happen if a business depends heavily on one person. Jamie walks through the practical questions owners should be asking long before there is an emergency: Who can run payroll? Who has authority at the bank? Who can contact the insurance company? Who knows how the day-to-day business actually works? Some of that requires legal documents like operating agreements, bylaws, financial powers of attorney, trusts, and buy-sell agreements. But Jamie points out that documents alone aren’t enough. Someone else also has to know how to actually keep the business moving for a few days, a few weeks, or longer. Another important part of the conversation is what happens when a business owner dies and the ownership interest ends up in probate . Jamie has seen businesses temporarily stall because nobody has legal authority to run them. Employees don’t know who is giving direction. Payroll becomes uncertain. Vendors and customers are left waiting. And even getting the first probate hearing may take weeks. For a small business, that kind of delay can be a real problem. We also get into buying and selling businesses and why Jamie says people often bring an attorney in too late. Once the terms have already been negotiated, it can be much harder to go back and fix something that wasn’t structured correctly. Her advice is to involve the right legal counsel earlier, especially when the transaction, partnership, or succession plan is important enough that getting it wrong could become expensive later. And Jamie leaves business owners with one big question: What do you want to happen to your business beyond you? Sell it? Pass it to an employee? Leave it to your children? Keep it operating under someone else? Whatever the answer is, succession usually takes longer than people expect. Learn more about Jamie Miller and J. Miller Law Firm: JMillerLawFirmPLLC.com Good Neighbor Podcast Tulsa: gnptulsa.com
