In our last article, we talked about how keyman insurance helps protect a business if something happens to a key person. Now, let’s talk about another helpful thing: the Buy-Sell Agreement.
Think of the Buy-Sell Agreement as a safety net for business partners. It’s like a plan for what happens if one partner can’t work anymore, or if there’s a disagreement about who owns what in the business.
Here’s how it works: If one partner can’t work anymore, the agreement says the other partner can buy their share of the business. It also says how much the business is worth and how to calculate the value of each partner’s share.
To make sure they can afford to buy out a partner, many businesses use money from life insurance policies. Each partner takes out an insurance policy on the other partner’s life. If one partner passes away, the insurance money can be used to buy their share of the business.
For example, let’s say Mr. Tiew and Ms. Lim run a furniture company together. They both get insurance policies on each other’s lives. If Mr. Tiew passes away, Ms. Lim can use the insurance money to buy his share of the company from his family.
It’s wise to involve a neutral and independent professional trustee to ensure the buy-sell agreement obligations are met. The insurance policies would be assigned to the trustee, who receives the insurance money upon the shareholder’s death and uses it to buy the stake from the deceased’s estate. Nonetheless, it’s crucial to note that this arrangement might attract stamp duties, so it’s essential to consider this aspect when assigning your insurance policy to a professional trustee.
In the absence of a professional trustee, there’s a risk that surviving partners might not stick to the agreement and use the insurance money for themselves instead. This could cause problems with the deceased partner’s family. Even though the personal representative of the deceased has the option of commencing legal action against the business partners, there would be delay and inconvenient. So, it’s important for everyone to honor the agreement and use the insurance money as intended.
（第二篇）股权买卖协议：你的企业是否做好了未来的准备？
在我们前个文章中，我们谈到了keyman insurance如何在关键领导出现意外情况时保护企业。现在，让我们谈谈另一种的企业传承：股权买卖协议。
股权买卖协议是每个合伙人必须了解的东西，因为它可以处理以下两种情况：
- 当某个合伙人无法继续工作。
- 当企业拥有权所引发的争议。
它的运作方式是这样的：如果其中一个合伙人不能继续工作了，协议规定另一个合伙人可以买下他们在企业中的股份。它还规定了企业的价值以及如何计算每个合伙人的股份价值。
为了确保他们能够买断一个合伙人的股份，许多合伙人会使用人寿保险的钱。每个合伙人都为另一个合伙人购买保险。如果一个合伙人去世，保险所赔出的保险金将可以用来买下他们在企业中的股份。
假设Mr. Tiew和Ms. Lim一起经营一家家具公司。他们都为对方购买了保险。如果Mr. Tiew去世，Ms. Lim可以使用保险金从他的家人那里购买他在公司的股份。
然而，明智的做法是您和您的合伙人找一个中立而独立的受托人，确保股权买卖协议能顺利执行。受托人会负责管理保险单，等股东离世时拿到保险金，然后用来购买逝者遗产中的股份。但要注意的是，这种安排可能需要缴付印花税，所以在选择专业受托人时要考虑这一点。
然而，如果没有专业受托人，幸存下来的合伙人可能会不遵守协议，将保险金用于个人用途。这可能会引起与去世合伙人家人的问题。虽然已故者的执行人/代表（personal representative）有权对合伙人采取法律行动，但可能会导致整个买卖延迟。因此，每个人都要遵守协议，并按照预期使用保险金。
