Who We Serve · Business Owners
Business Owners Suite
For most owners, the company is the largest asset on the balance sheet and the hardest one to turn into cash. A death, a disability, or a departure can force a sale at the worst possible moment. The work here is making sure that never has to happen, in coordination with the attorney who drafts your documents and the CPA who signs off on the numbers.
Every plan has two halves
An agreement with no funding behind it is a promise. Funding with no agreement behind it is an accident. Attorneys write the first half. This practice builds the second, and makes sure the two match.
Business Concepts
None of these are urgent until they are, and by then the options have narrowed. Each one is a structural question with a structural answer. Start wherever the exposure is sharpest for your company.
Business Transition
A buy-sell plan has two parts: the legal plan, written by an attorney, and the funding that carries it out. A life insurance policy is one of the most common ways owners make sure the money to complete the buyout is there on the day it is needed.
If your partner died Friday, where does the purchase price come from?Watch and read →
Business Preservation
Most companies have one or two people whose skills are vital to the business. A key person may be an owner, a partner, or an employee the company could not lose without serious consequences. The employer owns the policy, pays the premium, and is the beneficiary.
Who is the person you could not replace inside of a year?Read the concept →
Business Transition
Who runs the company next, on what timeline, and funded by what. A succession plan that exists only as an intention tends to get settled by whoever has the most leverage in the room after the founder is gone.
Is the successor named in a document, or only in your head?Read the concept →
Business Transition
A defensible number, arrived at before it is contested. Valuation sets the buy-sell price, sizes the funding, and anchors the estate math. Stale or absent valuations are where otherwise sound agreements come apart.
When was the company last valued by someone independent?Read the concept →
Business Transition
One child wants to run the business. The others want their fair share. Insurance proceeds can pay the children who are not involved, so the one who is does not have to sell or borrow against the company to buy them out.
Can your heirs be treated fairly without the company being sold?Read the concept →
Business Preservation
Bonus arrangements, split dollar designs, and deferred compensation for the people who make the company work. Six structures, each with a different answer on who owns the policy and who can get at the money. Compared side by side below.
What actually keeps your best people from taking the next offer?Watch and read →
Executive Benefit Strategy
A qualified plan has to cover everyone. These arrangements do not. They can be offered to one person or to a small group, and they can be written so the benefit is worth more the longer that person stays. The differences that matter are ownership, access, and whether the company gets its money back.
| Arrangement | Policy owner | Access to cash value | Company recovers cost | Retention pull |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Executive BonusSection 162 bonus arrangement | The executive | Unrestricted | No | Low |
| Restrictive Executive BonusBonus, restrictive endorsement, employment agreement | The executive | Restricted until the vesting terms are met | Possible, under the employment agreement | High |
| Endorsement Split DollarEmployer and executive share the costs and the benefits | The company | Company controlled | Yes, the company recovers its interest | High |
| Loan Regime Split DollarCompany advances the premium as a loan | The executive | Subject to the loan and collateral assignment | Yes, the loan is repaid | High |
| Employer-Controlled RetentionProtects the business, retains talent, supports succession | The company | Company controlled | Yes, the policy stays with the company | High |
| Deferred CompensationNonqualified, informally funded | The company | Company controlled | Yes, the company keeps the asset | High |
Several of these designs are offered by our carrier partners under their own program names, including North American's Executive Advantage loan regime split dollar concept and Executive Retention+. The structure is what matters; the program name is how a given carrier packages it. Tax treatment differs meaningfully across these designs and follows how the agreement is written, not what it is called. Split dollar arrangements in particular fall under different rules depending on who owns the policy. Your attorney drafts the agreement and your CPA confirms the reporting before anything is signed. Life insurance policies carry costs, charges, and conditions, and coverage depends on underwriting and the terms of the policy.
The Engagement
I
The ownership structure, the people the company depends on, the agreements already in place, and what you want the exit to look like.
II
Your existing documents read against your existing funding. This is where most gaps surface, usually as an agreement nobody has updated since it was signed.
III
Structures modeled conservatively and presented in writing, developed alongside your attorney and CPA rather than around them.
IV
Underwriting, funding, and the annual review that keeps valuations current and coverage matched to what the company is actually worth.
Begin the Conversation
Thirty minutes, no presentation, no obligation. Bring the buy-sell agreement if you have one. If you do not have one, that is a useful place to start.
Important: This page is general education. It is not legal, tax, accounting, or individualized financial advice. Buy-sell agreements, split dollar arrangements, deferred compensation plans, and trusts should be drafted by a qualified attorney, with tax treatment confirmed by a qualified tax professional. Life insurance policies contain costs, charges, limitations, exclusions, and conditions; coverage depends on underwriting and on the terms of the policy issued. Guarantees are backed by the claims-paying ability of the issuing insurance company. Video content is produced by the issuing carrier and is presented with attribution.