Make sure your buy/sell agreement is up to date. Circumstances change. Needs change. Maybe your business had a liquidity problem initially, and now it doesn’t. Maybe one of your heirs was a spendthrift (or worse) at 25; now he’s matured and this is no longer an issue. Divorce, remarriage, new children or grandchildren… all can impact the agreement, whether the changes take place in your life or those of your business partners. Goals change, too, as does the law itself.

Bottom line: make sure your agreement addresses life changes and changes to the law. Or chances are, you’ll be in a big bad business brawl soon enough.