The Importance of Buy-Sell Agreements

If you are starting or investing in a business, you must understand buy-sell agreements and you should strongly consider creating such an agreement for your organization. A buy-sell agreement can protect your investment and can help to ensure your company is able to continue operations and withstand the departure of any owners. 

Learning the ins-and-outs of buy-sell agreements is just one of many things that entrepreneurs need to do when starting, growing, or investing in a business.

Knowing all of the legal steps you need to take to protect yourself and your company can be complicated. Fortunately, a business planning lawyer in Fort Myers can help you. Barbara M. Pizzolato, P.A. will provide you with the advice and insight you need to take all of the essential steps required to protect your company and your investment.

We have represented many entrepreneurs in Fort Myers and surrounding areas. We can advise you not only on what types of contracts and agreements should be created, but also on a wide variety of other issues that affect startups. Give us a call today so we can get to work on helping you to work within Florida’s laws to protect your company.

Why are Buy-Sell Agreements Important?

Mass Mutual explains that: “ A buy-sell agreement is a legally binding agreement that requires one party to sell, and another party to buy a particular ownership interest in a business.”

Buy-sell agreements are necessary to provide protection for owners and for a company in case of disability, divorce, departure, or death of any owner. If you or anyone else must leave your organization for any of these reasons, your company could fall into chaos if you do not have a buy-sell agreement. A number of problems could arise if there is no agreement in place, including:

• Fights and disagreements over business valuation: If one of the co-owners must leave the company, his or her interest in the organization has to be valued. Putting a value on ownership shares is very complex and could lead to fighting and even litigation if you cannot agree on how the value of company ownership should be determined. This issue should be addressed in advance by a buy/sell agreement.

• Ownership falling into the wrong hands: With no buy-sell agreement in place, a co-owner of the company could give or sell his shares to someone who the other owners might not want to work with. The divorce of a co-owner could also result in that person’s ex spouse getting an ownership share in the business. This transfer of company ownership can sometimes create an untenable working environment, as those who end up owning the company may simply be unable to work effectively together.

Mass Mutual also advises that “Establishing the buy-sell agreement should be supervised and executed by an attorney.” Barbara M. Pizzolato, P.A. has the experience to help you create and execute this type of agreement. We have helped many startups and growing organizations in and around Fort Myers and our legal team can bring our knowledge to the table to assist your company in drafting an appropriate contract.

Creating Your Buy-Sell Agreement

Understand the importance of buy-sell agreements is just the first step. You also need to make certain that your agreement contains essential clauses, provides an appropriate method of business valuation, and is written in a clear and concise manner. Negotiating the terms of your agreement with co-owners can also be a complicated prospect.

Barbara M. Pizzolato, P.A. can help you. Our legal team will work with you to negotiate and draft an enforceable agreement that provides you and your company with the protections you need.

We will help you to make certain your buy-sell agreement addresses the essential issues you need to plan for in case of death, disability, divorce, or the departure of any owners for any reason. With our help, you can create and sign an agreement that ensures your company is able to last for a long time and you can ensure that your investment will be safe when you or your co-owners must move on.

Getting Help from A Business Planning Attorney in Fort Myers

Barbara M. Pizzolato, P.A. can help you and your co-owners to draft buy-sell agreements and other contracts that you will need to protect your startup or grow your company.

We can also assist with many other important matters, from deciding how your business should be structured to securing financing. To find out more about the ways in which we can help companies in and around Fort Myers and surrounding areas, give us a call at (239)-225-7911 or contact us online today.