I am not a lawyer. I am not an accountant. I am not an expert of succession. I am a 40-year plus business consultant who has seen many a messy family business succession. Sometimes the pain is so great the business is lost; other times family members grow hostile and no longer to talk to each other. Sadly, all of these situations were created with good intentions.
Know this: the odds are against you. Family business consultants and research estimates that 30 percent of businesses make it to a second generation, and only 12 percent to a third. And a measly 3 percent make it to the fourth generation.