It should include provisions for changing as needed and a commitment to communication, including at least annual meetings of the parties to the agreement. Even with the full cooperation of all family members, working out the necessary legal and financial plans can be difficult. Under the pressure of time to get the legal and financial matters resolved, the human relations concerns often fail to get the necessary attention. Preliminary thinking may be secretive and change often. As plans begin to firm up, people are assumed to understand what is being done and why.
Communication tends toward the informal and second-hand.
The parents may not take time to talk to the affected parties before the key meetings with an attorney or planner. Therefore, people go to meetings confused, and suspicious that they are intentionally being kept in the dark. The best transfer plans have often evolved over many years. Work may have greater emphasis than the training. Work is important but it is not all that is needed to prepare for ownership of the business.