Partners don't plan for the negative event. Scenarios that should be considered include death, disability, retirement, a voluntary withdrawal such as a one partner deciding he no longer wants to be involved in the business, or involuntary withdrawal, such as when a partner is asked to leave because, for example, his drinking problem is a hurting the business. The business partnership agreement should serve as a guideline, designating buy-out procedures, how much each partner is entitled to, how disputes should be handled and who controls the business if one partner dies. One key is to review the agreement annually. It is certainly possible for a business owner to tackle the task up drawing up a business agreement on his or her own.
Business owners can even get the appropriate forms and information on the Internet.
However, Eveland said, there are numerous other issues, such as taxes, protection from lawsuits by outside parties and other legal concerns that come into play and there is a danger in trying to navigate that alone. For that reason, most professionals advice consulting an attorney. But that expense, she said, is substantially less than the cost of litigating a business break-up without one. Additionally, it is important to know that drawing up an agreement isn't a perfect science. Even with a contract in place, business partners who have a disagreement may have to resort to negotiations either with attorneys or a mediator like Russian.