Business Owner Planning
Georgia Business Succession Planning
A business succession plan puts in writing who takes over your Georgia business, on what terms, and how ownership moves to them. It settles these questions before a crisis forces them.
Your Business Needs a Written Plan for What Happens When You Are Gone
Georgia business owners who have not documented a succession plan leave their families and employees with no legal framework for continuing or closing the business. A written succession plan, aligned with your estate plan, removes the guesswork.
What Happens to Your Business When You Die Without a Plan in Georgia
The day you die, the people who run your business may lose the right to act. Accounts in your name can freeze. If no one else has authority, no one can make payroll, pay vendors, or sign contracts for you until a probate court appoints someone. In Georgia, probate for an estate with a business takes about 25 months on average. Your employees, clients, and cash flow do not wait. A business can lose much of its value while it waits.
Your business interest becomes part of your estate. That means it goes through probate. Until the court appoints someone to act for your estate, your family may have no legal right to run or sell it. After that, the court stays involved until probate closes. You spent years building something. Probate costs and delays can eat into it.
If you have a business partner, your heirs may inherit your share. That means your spouse or children could become your partner’s new co-owner. There is no agreement in place. The working relationship that kept the business running is gone, and now there is a legal dispute about who owns what and who decides what. Your partner did not sign up to be in business with your family.
If you are the only owner, there is no one legally authorized to run the business the day you die. Contracts can expire. Clients can leave. Employees can quit. Loan payments can be missed. The business that took you a decade to build can lose much of its value by the time probate closes. An unplanned exit is not a retirement. It can turn into a rushed sale.
What a Succession Plan Actually Does
A succession plan is a set of legal documents that answers every question before anyone has to ask it. Who takes over. Who owns what. What happens to your business interest. How it gets valued. What your family receives. What your partner can do. All of it is decided while you are alive and thinking clearly, not in a courtroom two years after you are gone. A plan takes those decisions out of probate and puts them where they belong: with you.
It keeps the business running. The right documents give a named person the authority to make payroll, honor contracts, manage employees, and keep operations going the day you die or become incapacitated. Not after probate. Your business keeps its value because it keeps operating.
It protects what your family is owed. Your heirs are in a better position to receive what your business is actually worth, not what is left after a probate process drains the accounts while clients go elsewhere. Your family is in a better position to keep the value you built.
What You Get with a Succession Plan from The Hive Law
It starts with a free 15-minute call with Shawn. Then comes your Design Meeting, where Shawn and Melissa review your business structure, ownership arrangement, your personal estate, and what you want to happen. They ask the questions that surface the gaps. Most business owners walk in thinking they have a plan and leave realizing they have a starting point. The Design Meeting tells you exactly where you stand and what it will take to get there.
From there, we build a plan specific to your business. Not a template. A plan built around your LLC or S-Corp, your partners, your family, and the actual value at stake. Every document is designed to work together so nothing falls through when the time comes. Your plan covers the business, the transition, and the people involved.
The documents depend on what your business needs. That can include ownership transfer instructions, operating agreement amendments, a buy-sell agreement, documents that give someone authority to run the business on your behalf, and coordination with your personal estate plan so nothing conflicts. What you get is a complete plan, not a stack of documents that do not talk to each other.
What This Does Not Do
A succession plan does not run your business. It gives someone the legal authority and clear instructions to do that. The plan is only as good as the person you name to carry it out. Choosing the right person is a decision we will work through in your Design Meeting, but it is yours to make. We build the legal structure. You build the team that executes it.
A succession plan does not replace a will or a trust. Your personal estate still needs to be in order. If your business interest flows into your estate and your estate has no plan, the succession documents can only do so much. Most clients who work with us on succession planning also coordinate it with a full personal estate plan. The two plans work together or they work against each other.
Not every business faces the same problem. Our statewide numbers on businesses with and without employees show the split. A business with staff has a real succession problem. For most businesses with no staff, what the owner needs is an estate plan.
If avoiding probate for your business assets is a priority, a revocable living trust that holds your business interest may be part of the solution. Shawn and Melissa can walk you through whether that fits your situation during your Design Meeting.
The price depends on your business structure, who owns it, and how complex it is. A free 15-minute call with Shawn gets you a clear number for your situation.
The fact that you read this far tells us something about you. You take this seriously. So do we.
Without a Succession Plan
- Accounts in your name can freeze on day one. No payroll, no contracts, no distributions.
- Probate takes about 25 months on average while clients and employees wait.
- Your share can pass to heirs your partner never agreed to work with.
- The court stays involved in who can act for your share of the business.
- In the complex probate cases we've handled, families have paid $29,700 in probate costs, while the business may earn little.
- Your family may get only what is left after about two years of court process.
With a Succession Plan
- A named person has legal authority to operate the business the day you die.
- Operations can keep going during the transition.
- Your partner knows exactly what happens to your interest. Fewer grounds for a dispute.
- The transition follows your instructions, not a judge's decision.
- Your family is in a better position to receive what the business is worth.
- Your personal estate and your business plan work together from day one.
How It Works
A 15-Minute Call With Shawn
Tell us what is going on with your family. Shawn walks you through your options and what each one costs. Free.
The Design Meeting With Shawn and Melissa
In a 60-minute meeting, Shawn and Melissa review your assets, your family, and your goals together and design your plan. This meeting is credited toward your plan if you move forward.
Review Every Document With Melissa
Before you sign, Melissa walks through every document with you in plain language. No legal jargon. No confusion about what you are signing.
Sign at Home
You sign at home, in front of a notary and witnesses you line up. Your signing instructions tell you who needs to be there. After you sign, you get a written checklist of what to do next.
Melissa Breyer
Georgia Estate Planning Attorney
Melissa Breyer is a Georgia estate planning attorney who works exclusively on trust-based estate planning and LLC formation. She personally designs and drafts every plan at The Hive Law after the initial call. Every plan is built from scratch for your specific family, your specific assets, and your specific wishes.
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What Our Clients Say
After my father passed away, my mother had to rely on my father's employer to navigate the estate. It was a disaster. After this experience, I knew I needed a plan. I turned to The Hive Law to set up a trust. I no longer have to worry about my wife and children going through a difficult process if something happens to me. I highly recommend The Hive Law!
My biggest fear was that if I died first, my wife would have no idea how to navigate the estate and legal system. I reached out to The Hive Law and they put my mind at ease immediately. Their process is easy to follow and they took care of everything. The Hive Law is the best decision I've made for my family's future.
Working with Melissa Breyer to set up our Living Trust was a wonderful experience. She and her entire team were knowledgeable, professional, and made the whole process easy to understand. I highly recommend The Hive Law for all your estate planning needs!
We highly recommend Hive Law. They were extremely patient and responsive, answering our many rounds of questions regarding trusts and estate planning. Shawn consistently responded the same day we sent our questions, even while his family was on vacation, which we greatly appreciated. Shawn was also always available to discuss matters by phone whenever we needed additional clarification on the options we were considering. Both are very knowledgeable in estate planning, and we would confidently recommend Hive Law to friends and family.
The Hive Law made the entire estate planning and trust process easy to understand and stress-free. Melissa and Shawn walked us through every step and answered all of our questions. We feel confident that our family is protected. Highly recommend!
My mom chose The Hive firm to help with estate planning and developing a trust to protect her assets. I sat in on her meeting with Melissa, and Melissa did a great job of simplifying complex legalese into easily understood concepts. Shawn was very quick to get us our documents and all steps in the process were clear and easy. They make a great team and we are thankful for their help!
I used The Hive Law to help me create a trust for my family. The process was straightforward and Melissa and Shawn made sure I understood each step. They were responsive to all of my questions. I feel much more confident about my family's future now. Highly recommend!
Working with Shawn and Melissa at The Hive Law has been an excellent experience. They were one of three firms we contacted, but she made the strongest impression during our initial call. They asked great questions to understand our situation and clearly explained what we needed to put in place. We initially had some reservations about their fully virtual approach, but those concerns were quickly put to rest. After the first two calls, it was clear how easy they are to work with and how well connected we felt. Communication has been clear, organized, and reassuring throughout the process. Shawn and Melissa are professional, approachable, and thorough. We feel confident we're in good hands and highly recommend The Hive Law for estate planning.
The Hive Law Firm, and specifically Melissa, has been wonderful to work with during our estate planning process. She is knowledgeable, patient, and thorough. She answered all of our questions and made the process easy to understand. I highly recommend The Hive Law!
Shawn and Melissa were amazing to work with! My partner and I recently bought a house and wanted to get important things like wills, healthcare directives, etc. set up. They were incredible at answering all our questions and working with us to make sure we felt confident in all of the legal aspects. Having tried to do this online before with one of the DIY tools, it was just an amazing experience to get to talk through what we wanted with a knowledgeable human and have them take care of the details.
Hive Law was awesome to work with! Melissa and Shawn explained everything, kept things stress-free, and were always quick to respond to my questions. They made the whole process simple and smooth from start to finish. Highly recommend if you want a team that's knowledgeable but also easy to work with.
I lost my father in February of this year without any estate planning in place. The process of dealing with the probate court has been overwhelming and expensive. After this experience, I contacted The Hive Law to set up a trust so my children never have to go through what I've been through. Melissa and Shawn were compassionate, knowledgeable, and made the entire process simple. I highly recommend The Hive Law!
I used to know the bare minimum about probate and trust. I first encountered Shawn Breyer on Facebook. He was offering a webinar that I watched. That gave me a better understanding of probate versus trust. I was impressed enough to have him and his wife represent me. I had my initial one on one interview with Melissa Breyer, it went smoothly and she made everything clear. We are now proceeding with getting a revocable trust in place.
The Hive Law has been amazing throughout the process of setting up our trust. Every detail is considered and no stone is left unturned. They have been easy and enjoyable to work with. I would absolutely recommend them! Don't let your estate be turned over to Probate!!
The Hive Law helped us set up a revocable trust. Their webinar is great for answering any questions you may have, to clarify and avoid probate. Get in touch with them right away, you won't be disappointed.
Melissa was great! She gave me an honest review of my future plans that I already have in place. Turns out, I already had my ducks in a row!!! She was a pleasure to talk with!!
For several years now I have been thinking about having a will drawn up, but continued to procrastinate until an older sibling had a medical situation occur which none of the family was prepared for. This was the determining factor for me to get it done. We never know when an emergency medical situation could arise and I didn't want my other siblings to be scrambling around trying to figure things out in the event I couldn't make any decisions for myself, or God forbid I pass away. My attorney (Melissa), was very funny and made the whole experience quite entertaining. She listened to what I wanted and explained the type of plan I needed. Thanks Melissa & Shawn for making the process an enjoyable experience.
The Hive Law Firm did an excellent job helping my mother-in-law with her estate plan. The process felt overwhelming at first, but their team walked us through every step with compassion and professionalism. They listened to our concerns, explained things in simple terms, and made sure our mother's wishes were honored. We're very grateful for their guidance.
The Hive Law firm did an outstanding job helping my family members with their estate planning. They made the process clear, smooth and stress free. Truly professional and caring team, highly recommend!
The whole process of creating a family trust felt simple, clear, and stress-free. We really appreciated how patient, helpful, and easy to communicate with the team was throughout everything. Shawn and Melissa gave us great guidance and helped us feel confident every step of the way. We're grateful for their support and would definitely recommend them.
Frequently Asked Questions
A sole owner needs a succession plan more than anyone. If you die without one, nobody has legal authority to run the business on day one. Accounts in your name can freeze. Contracts can sit in your name. Employees have no one to answer to. A succession plan names the person you want to take over and gives them the authority to act, instead of leaving it to a court process.
Many operating agreements do not cover it. A standard agreement deals with how the business runs while you are alive. It may say what happens to your membership interest when you die, but it usually says nothing about who has operational authority, how the transition gets funded, or how your personal estate interacts with your business interest. If you are not sure what yours says, that is what the Design Meeting is for.
A buy-sell agreement governs what happens to a business interest when an owner dies, becomes incapacitated, or wants out. It sets the price, the terms, and who is allowed to buy. If you have a business partner and no buy-sell agreement, there is no framework for what happens to your interest when you die. Your partner and your heirs argue it out, or a court decides for them. A buy-sell agreement settles that before it becomes a fight.
S-Corps have strict ownership rules. Shares can only be held by certain people and certain kinds of entities. If your interest passes to the wrong person or the wrong kind of trust, the S-Corp election can be lost and the tax treatment of the whole corporation changes. A succession plan for an S-Corp makes sure every ownership transfer fits those rules. We review that in your Design Meeting.
Your business interest is an asset in your personal estate, so the two plans have to line up. If your personal documents do not address the business, or the two plans contradict each other, you can end up with one plan working and the other failing. Most clients who come to us for business succession also have a personal estate plan. If you do not have one yet, we build both together so nothing falls between them.
The cost depends on your business structure, how many owners there are, and which documents need to be created or updated. A sole-owner LLC with a straightforward plan costs less than a multi-owner S-Corp that needs a buy-sell agreement and trust coordination. A free 15-minute call with Shawn gets you a clear number for your situation. If you move forward, the Design Meeting is where we map out the exact plan, and its cost is credited toward your plan.
Find Out Where You Stand
You’ve been meaning to do this for a while now. That’s normal. Most families wait until something happens, then wish they hadn’t.
A 15-minute call tells you exactly what you have, what’s missing, and what your family needs next. No paperwork, no obligation, just a straight answer.
- No sales pitch. Just a straight answer about where you stand.
- No confusing terms. We explain everything in plain English.
- A real next step. You’ll know exactly what to do when we hang up.
Where We Serve
Georgia Counties We Serve
We help families across Georgia protect their assets and avoid probate. Select your county to learn more about estate planning where you live.