A SIMPLE WAY TO AVOID A FAMILY FEUD

You know you have had a good day as a life insurance salesman, if you have helped your client solve a messy problem with a simple solution 🙂

My client Mike was the founder and owner of a very successful paper distribution company. He had been at it for forty years, and was starting to wind things down. Estate planning was very much on his mind.

To whom should he leave his business?

His son Ben had joined the firm right after college. In the twenty years following, he had shown a strong business acumen, and had helped bring in major accounts. Most importantly, he had proven his dedication to the company’s growth and clearly wanted to take charge of its future.

Ben was the ideal candidate to inherit the business when Mike passed on.

But that also created a problem.

What to do with his sister Peggy?

She had chosen her own path. She had married her high school sweetheart and settled nicely into the domestic life. She had provided Mike with four darling grandkids.

For sure she was not qualified to inherit any part of the business. But Mike loved her as much as Ben, and wanted to be as equally generous with her.

Did I have any ideas? Yes. I did.

I proposed that he purchase a life insurance policy for the benefit of Peggy. The coverage amount would be the same as the value of the business. This way, when he died, each child would receive a gift of equal value.

Most importantly, the business he had worked so hard to build would be in good hands, and family squabbles over money would be avoided.

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