Business succession planning prepares a company for the transfer of ownership, management, and decision-making authority when an owner retires, becomes incapacitated, passes away, or chooses to sell. The successor may be a family member, business partner, key employee, or third-party buyer.
The Goodson Firm P.C. helps Texas business owners coordinate buy-sell agreements, ownership-transfer terms, funding arrangements, leadership transition documents, and estate-planning considerations. Without a written plan, a company may face disputes, operational delays, an unplanned sale, or loss of business value. A clear succession strategy gives owners, family members, partners, and employees a defined path forward.
Succession planning typically involves multiple components working together: buy-sell agreements that outline ownership transfer terms, valuation strategies that determine fair business value, funding mechanisms like life insurance or buy-sell agreements, tax-efficient transfer structures, and management transition plans that maintain business continuity.
Business planning solutions tailored to your life, family, and goals.
Buy-sell agreements establish how an ownership interest may be transferred when an owner retires, becomes disabled, passes away, or chooses to leave the company. Depending on the ownership structure and funding plan, the agreement may use a cross-purchase, entity-redemption, or wait-and-see approach. The Goodson Firm P.C. helps define triggering events, valuation procedures, payment terms, and the parties permitted or required to purchase the interest.
Determining your company’s value is essential for fair ownership transfer and tax planning. We work with valuation professionals when needed and ensure your business structure—whether S-corp, LLC, partnership, or C-corp—supports your succession goals while minimizing tax burden.
We help identify how the succession will be funded. Life insurance often plays a key role, providing liquidity for buyouts if an owner passes away. We coordinate with your insurance advisor to ensure proper coverage and ownership structures.
A business transfer may create income, gift, estate, or capital-gains tax considerations depending on how the transaction is structured. The Goodson Firm P.C. coordinates with the owner’s CPA and financial advisors when evaluating installment sales, gifting strategies, recapitalizations, or entity changes that may support the succession plan.
Beyond legal documents, we address the operational and human elements of succession. This includes identifying and developing successor talent, documenting processes and institutional knowledge, and creating timelines to provide the business with stability during the transition.
Your business likely represents your largest asset. We integrate succession planning with your overall estate plan to ensure your company, personal assets, and family provision work together cohesively.
We begin with a thorough conversation about your business, ownership structure, financial situation, and succession goals. What does success look like for you? Are you planning retirement, preparing family members to take over, or building value for a potential sale? We also discuss any family dynamics, partnership agreements, or previous planning that affect the succession.
Based on what we learn, we analyze your current business structure, valuation, tax situation, and insurance needs. We may recommend adjustments to your entity structure, identify funding gaps, or recommend coordination with your CPA, financial advisor, and insurance professional. We outline multiple succession scenarios and discuss the legal, tax, and financial implications of each.
We prepare comprehensive succession documents tailored to your strategy. This typically includes buy-sell agreements, operating agreement amendments, powers of attorney, healthcare directives, and updated wills or trusts — all drafted with precision and reviewed with you before signing.
Ms. Leigh Goodson was fabulous in giving me advice for my father's situation. She was a wealth of knowledge and recommendations. We will be using her for further estate planning.
Leigh prepared estate documents for myself and my husband, and she did a fantastic job. Everyone at her office was friendly and easy to work with. The process was quick and easy, and we feel so much better knowing our affairs are in order. If anyone needs any estate planning help, I would 100% recommend Leigh and her office!
I knew from my experience working with attorneys for over 30 years that with a blended family my husband and I needed professional estate planning. Ms. Goodson provided us with excellent options and did a very thorough explanation of the pros and cons of each of them. She offered non-judgmental opinions and legal information about the equitable division of our blended families small estate. We chose to go with the more expensive trust option because it would be a simpler and less expensive probate for our children who almost all live out of state. She and her assistant made extra efforts to accommodate our schedule and the entire process was quickly completed. We highly recommend The Goodson Firm. P.C. for your estate planning and probate legal services.
Leigh Goodson is a professional attorney. She is available to clients and is responsive in urgent and standard matters. Her expertise has been very helpful. Highly recommend, The Goodson Firm.
Leigh Goodson is the attorney I trust to take care of my clients, friends, and family. She knows the law and works with her clients to make sure their priorities are addressed appropriately.
The right time to protect your legacy is before you need to. Schedule a confidential consultation and take the first step toward protecting everything you have built and the people who matter most.
Locations in Tyler, Dallas, Plano, The Woodlands, & Bee Cave, Texas
