Business Succession Planning Lawyer in Northern Virginia

How a Business Succession Planning Lawyer Can Help Protect What You Built

A business succession planning lawyer can help you decide what should happen to your business interests after your death and who may have authority to act if you become incapacitated. Making those decisions in advance can help clarify future ownership and leadership while taking your existing business arrangements into account.

For business owners, Trust-Based Estate Planning can incorporate business succession into the larger plan for preserving assets, continuing the business, and transferring ownership according to the owner’s wishes.

At McCarthy & Akers, PLC | Estate Planning Attorneys, we start by learning about your business, ownership structure, and goals for the future. We help business owners in Great Falls and throughout Northern Virginia consider their current business arrangements and choose a Trust-Based Estate Plan that reflects those circumstances and broader planning goals.

If you are ready to consider how your business interests fit into your estate plan, call (703) 452-4988 or complete our online contact form to schedule a consultation.

Key Takeaways

Here is what to know before you put a succession plan in place or rely on one that already exists:

• Virginia law distinguishes certain economic rights in an LLC from the right to participate in management, so transferring ownership does not necessarily transfer control.
• Existing company agreements may affect how business interests can pass, while estate planning documents can establish the owner’s instructions for those interests.
• Early planning can give business owners more time to create a clear plan for future ownership, leadership, and the documents that may support the transition.
• Business interests can represent a substantial part of an owner’s estate, so the business plan and personal estate plan should work together.
• Gifting and tax considerations may also affect how business interests fit within the broader estate plan.
• McCarthy & Akers, PLC can help you choose an estate plan that fits your current business arrangements, ownership structure, and broader planning goals.

What Business Succession Planning Actually Is

Business succession planning is the process of deciding and documenting what should happen to a business when an owner dies, becomes incapacitated, or is otherwise no longer able to manage the business.

In Virginia, that planning may be affected by an operating agreement under the Virginia Limited Liability Company Act or a shareholder agreement for a corporation, which may address how an ownership interest can transfer. Virginia law also allows certain restrictions on the transfer of corporate shares through governing documents and shareholder agreements.

At McCarthy & Akers, PLC, business succession planning is incorporated into the broader estate planning process. Through Trust-Based Estate Planning, we can address how your business interests should be handled after your death, who may benefit from those interests, and who may act during incapacity. This approach also considers how the business fits with your other assets, family goals, and existing business arrangements as part of one coordinated estate plan. 

Succession Planning Through Estate Planning for Northern Virginia Business Owners

Depending on your business structure and goals, a well-drafted estate plan can help clarify who may succeed you and under what conditions. At McCarthy & Akers, PLC, we focus on the estate planning documents that can support those decisions while taking your current business arrangements into account.

Your estate plan can address:

• Who May Inherit Your Business Interests: Estate planning documents can identify who should benefit from your ownership interest after your death, subject to existing company agreements and applicable law.
• What Happens During Incapacity: Powers of attorney and trust provisions can help address who may act with respect to certain business interests if you become unable to manage your affairs.
• How the Business Fits With the Rest of Your Estate: Your plan can consider the business alongside other assets, family goals, and beneficiaries who may or may not be involved in the company.

How a Trust Can Support Business Succession Planning

For many business owners, Trust-Based Estate Planning can provide a clearer way to address what should happen to an LLC or other business interest after death. Placing an eligible business interest into a trust can allow the trust terms to reflect the owner’s intentions while also taking existing business agreements into account.

Holding an LLC Interest in a Trust

A trust may hold an LLC interest when the company’s governing documents and applicable law allow it. The trust can identify who benefits from that interest and how it should be handled after the owner’s death.

Setting Terms for What Happens Next

A trust can also describe what you want to happen to the business interest after you pass away. Depending on your goals and existing business arrangements, the trust may direct that the interest be transferred to a family member or other beneficiary, or that it be sold after death and the proceeds distributed according to the trust terms.

Coordinating the Business With Your Estate Plan

For some clients, that may include placing an LLC interest into a trust and establishing clear instructions for how that interest should be handled as part of the broader estate plan.

What Happens to a Northern Virginia Business Without a Succession Plan

Without a succession plan, a Virginia limited liability company may continue operating after an owner leaves, dies, or becomes incapacitated, but questions can still arise about who holds the ownership interest, who has management authority, and how the remaining owners should respond.

Under Virginia Code § 13.1-1040.2, a member’s dissociation generally does not cause the LLC to dissolve unless the articles of organization or operating agreement provide otherwise. Virginia law also allows a member to seek judicial dissolution in circuit court when it is no longer reasonably practicable to carry on the business in accordance with the company’s governing documents.

A written succession plan can give the people involved a clearer framework based on the owner’s goals while also addressing how company documents and Virginia’s default rules may apply.

Benefits of Working With a Business Succession Planning Attorney

An attorney at McCarthy & Akers, PLC can help turn informal intentions into a clearer plan that reflects your goals, your business structure, and your broader estate planning needs:

• A Plan Built Around Your Goals: We take time to learn about your business, family circumstances, and what you want to happen to your business interests after death or incapacity.
• Business Succession Within Your Estate Plan: We incorporate those wishes into your Trust-Based Estate Plan while taking your existing business arrangements into account.
• Clearer Expectations for Family Members: Thoughtful estate planning can help clarify what should happen to your business interests after your death and how those interests fit within the broader plan for your family.
• Guidance That Considers the Whole Picture: We look at the business, family circumstances, ownership structure, and estate planning goals together.
• Ongoing Support as Things Change: As your business grows or your goals shift, working with an attorney who already knows your plan can make future updates more straightforward.

How the Business Succession Planning Process Works With McCarthy & Akers, PLC

1. Start With a Conversation: We take time to learn about your business, your family, and what you want the transition to look like.
2. Review What is Already in Place: We look at your existing documents and identify areas that need to be updated or coordinated.
3. Clarify Your Priorities: We talk through your timing, ownership goals, and the people you want involved so the plan reflects what matters to you.
4. Prepare the Estate Planning Documents: We prepare the estate planning documents that support the direction you choose and reflect your current business arrangements.
5. Keep the Plan Current: As your business, family, or goals change, we can help you revisit the plan and make appropriate updates.

Business Succession Matters We Handle

McCarthy & Akers, PLC helps Northern Virginia business owners address succession through estate planning, including:

• Trust-Based Estate Planning for business owners
• Placing LLC interests into trusts
• Planning for business interests after death
• Family business gifts through estate planning
• Incapacity planning for business owners
• Coordinating business interests with the broader estate plan
• Legacy planning for family-owned businesses

Why Work With McCarthy & Akers, PLC

For many business owners, the company represents years of work, family involvement, and long-term planning, so deciding what happens next can feel deeply personal. At McCarthy & Akers, PLC, we take time to learn your story, your priorities, and what you want for the future before recommending a path forward.

Our team takes a holistic approach that includes Trust-Based Estate Planning. That means looking beyond a will alone and considering how your business interests fit with trusts, ownership documents, family goals, and your broader plan for the future. A Legacy Letter can also help you share personal values, priorities, and guidance with the people who matter to you.

How Our Business Succession Services Fit Into Our Trust-Based Estate Planning

McCarthy & Akers, PLC addresses business succession through estate planning. We focus on estate planning documents that establish what should happen to business interests after death or during incapacity, based on the owner’s existing business arrangements.

Start Your Business Succession Planning Process With a Lawyer in Northern Virginia

Planning for your business’s future can start with a simple conversation. At McCarthy & Akers, PLC | Estate Planning Attorneys, we take time to listen, answer your questions, and help you consider the next steps at a pace that feels comfortable for you.

If you are in Great Falls, VA, or another Northern Virginia community, call t or complete our online contact form to schedule a consultation.

Trust McCarthy & Akers to be your partner in planning for the future.