The after-life of your business and finances

The After-Life of Your Business and Finances

May 30, 2006
By Dylan Skriloff

When RBA member Kurt Griffith’s mother died, without having updated her will in over 40 years’ it brought the family into court and after 19 months her estate is still in probate.

Griffith, who is the owner and founder of Fantastic Reality Studios, said he used to tell his mother she needed to write a new will, but the conversation would always end with her offering a terse “mmph” and nothing more. “When she passed away one of the executors had passed away and the other was in a nursing home, the attorney had passed away and three of four witnesses had passed away,” he said.

Griffith was among 15 RBA members gathered for the May meeting of the Small Business Council on the Blue Hill Campus of Iona College. RBA members Bob Salmon of H&S Sales and Consultants, Inc., Joe Fimmano of MFM Financial Services, LLC and Raymond J. Falcon Jr. of Falcon & Singer P.C., also gave presentations at the meeting. They each know the business and legal side of death and tragedy and have seen plenty of problems result from people who die without a will, estate planning or life insurance or who have not purchased disability insurance for their business partnership.

“If someone is on disability for a long time they become hated. The best way to handle it is to let the insurance company pay for it,” Salmon advised. The legal and financial details of different Buy/Sell agreements also were discussed. The basic message of the professional’s presentation was that if you are to die or get injured you don’t want to leave a mess behind, so look into an insurance policy now.

Falcon noted that if you believe you can successfully make a will over the internet you have another thing coming.

“I encourage clients to go ahead and do it, because I will make more money sorting out the mess than I would have doing their will to begin with,” Falcon joked.

Another situation Falcon said people ought to have a plan for is resuscitation efforts in the event of a terminal illness. If you signed a legal form that no extreme measures be taken to save your life ten years ago, but have since made statements to the contrary, it could cause legal problems, he said.

Fran Reinstein said she felt most people’s attitude toward the matter of death-planning is procrastination, denial and avoidance.

“I’m pragmatic, I cover the what-ifs,” said Reinstein. Some researchers into the expansion of human consciousness, such as spiritualist Leonard Orr, say humans should be working to achieve physical immortality and should not plan to die.

“Immortality, come on,” Reinstein jousted.

For potential new RBA member Larry Bettello, the presentation was the first event he attended at the RBA.

“The things they brought up are necessary; it’s not about yourself, its about your family,” Bettello said. Council co-chair Peter Wade also said estate planning is all about taking care of your family and seeing that your influence be registered in the “lifestream.”

“Do you want people to remember you? Do you want to have made a contribution?” he asked.

Wise words offered by the trio of death-planners:

Unless there is proper successor planning, most businesses die when the owner dies.
If your son can run the business when you’re not here, then why are you working?
There’s a price tag for everything. By doing nothing, it will cost you dollars. By something it will cost you pennies.
A Buy/Sell agreement protects the interests of all parties-insurance funding makes sure there are interests to protect.
When partners are together, they balance each other. But when one gets off, the other falls off, for you can’t seesaw alone.

TO A BUSINESS OWNER: IF YOU HAD DIED LAST NIGHT – HOW WOULD THESE QUESTIONS BE
ANSWERED TODAY?

Who is running the business?
To whom do they report?
How does your spouse get income?
Who will pay the creditors?
Does the bank have your personal guarantees?
Are there partners?
What will they want?
Should your shares be sold?
Will your partner(s) buy?
At what price?
Where will they get cash?
Is this what you want?

June 12, 2006

Results of Tomorrow Workplace’s IT Survey Are In