Who Takes Over Your Business When You Die?

12 years ago

Good Point Terry.

My businesses are not IM but 99.9% of the work is online.

My wife tells me all the time I need to teach our son but I never have.

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true900

Banned 12 years ago

Originally Posted by Terry Coombes

Morbid, I know. Most of us have insurance for all kinds of eventualities - personally I avoid any insurance I'm not forced to have. But it nags at me that (should I ever make any money

) if I die, since nobody is really aware of what I do, my millions could be lying in a vault at PayPal for the rest of eternity.

Given that many Internet Marketers seem to be solo operators - we very often read on the Forum that family and friends think the IM'er is "just playing on the computer" - how would your online business continue without you? Do you have the equivalent of a "disaster plan" to enable someone else to take over? Would anyone in your online world even be aware that you were no longer around in the offline world?

I've no hidden agenda, just a genuine interest in whether others have given it any thought. Maybe someone needs to start a service that provides a (very) secure repository for "in the event of my death..." documents and gives the peace of mind of knowing that if you do die, your online business and your family's interests will be taken care of. Or maybe such a service already exists.

Terry

You can send to me

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Aarron

12 years ago

Maybe there could be some kind of community or academy that could take left behind businesses (online businesses) and disperse the money to those who need it most (the deceased's family)

Or maybe you should add it to your will, or teach the ropes to someone who deserves to learn it all.

Definite food for thought goody buddy!

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PatrickP

12 years ago

There are people who buy businesses for pennies on the dollar from the deceased family because they are not able to pay the death taxes and must sell or be in violation of IRS laws.

Seems a little morbid to me.

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Sylvie Vivarais

12 years ago

It will depend if you created a will or a succession plan.

If you create a will you can designate someone to take it over. The best thing would be to make sure that the person would be interested.

You can always leave your log information in a safe somewhere and leave the instructions and a key with the lawyer. All the person would need to do is know your lawyer, contact them and provide ID to get access to the key.
They can then go to the safety deposit box and get access to the login information to your online business.

Consider backing up your site with the files and putting them on a CD. Also have login details in a word or text file on the same CD.

A very simple way to do it in less than one minute is with:

Backup creator - backupcreator.com

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1 reply

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FrozenGod

12 years ago

Originally Posted by Sylvie Vivarais

It will depend if you created a will or a succession plan.

If you create a will you can designate someone to take it over. The best thing would be to make sure that the person would be interested.

You can always leave your log information in a safe somewhere and leave the instructions and a key with the lawyer. All the person would need to do is know your lawyer, contact them and provide ID to get access to the key.
They can then go to the safety deposit box and get access to the login information to your online business.

Consider backing up your site with the files and putting them on a CD. Also have login details in a word or text file on the same CD.

A very simple way to do it in less than one minute is with:

Backup Creator

I feel an affiliate link here, it is not allowed buddy.

Thanks
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Sylvie Vivarais 12 years ago

Originally Posted by FrozenGod

I feel an affiliate link here, it is not allowed buddy.

Sorry about that... the regular link as been added.
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- willay 12 years ago
  
  Same as an offline business. If it is not specified then it goes to immediate family members I believe.
  
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Tracey_Meagher

12 years ago

Funny I often think of this but tend to quickly sweep it to the back of mind and only get so far as to think, I really must make sure my kids know my Paypal passwords .. in case anything happens! Because I provide for my family (four teenagers) from my work online, I would love to think that one of them could at least maintain whatever passive income comes in. With this in mind, most of them have some websites and understand the potential in making money online.

I'm hoping I have a good 40 years left to build an empire and get my passwords down!!

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JSThompson

12 years ago

My fiancee will take over my businesses should something happen to me. We started them together so they're partly hers anyway. Once our daughters are old enough we will start teaching them in the event something was to happen to both of us.

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Terry Coombes 12 years ago

Thanks all, I think it's important to have something in place if you have dependents. What first made me think about this was when I saw posts in the WSO section that started out with, "Hi, xxxx, I've PM'ed you with no reply and so I now have to post here. Please get back to me." Then similar posts from others and before long, the Warrior's reputation starts to take a dive.

It just made me wonder if the Warrior was incapacitated, or worse...

I suppose you just need someone competent, trustworthy, and with whom you are happy to share your secrets. Not always easy to find.

Terry
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Dee Odus

12 years ago

If I die, my wife and son will continue to receive my Adsense Checks

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funkynassau

12 years ago

Our son, the college grad in biz marketing, would take over the online biz, he's involved in it right now, so he'd be the logical one to have it. Our day to day real life biz would just come to an end if we both came to an end at the same time. If hubby, who does the day job, went first, I can sell the biz and failing that I could sell all of the equipment that goes with it.

Good topic, tho depressing. Hubby knows the banking password but not paypal, I need to inform him of these things.

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jajo 12 years ago

Related to that, I saw something last year about a legal case where the parents went to court to get the Internet passwords for their son who had died. The courts denied them access.

Out of the case sprang up a company dealing with the legalities of making sure that someone is left with access to your information. I found it really interesting at the time and did save the company name, but unfortunately it is lost to me at the moment.

Maybe some of you are familiar with it.

jajo
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spacechimpmedia

12 years ago

This is covered in our business partnership agreement but I'm not sure how this is worked out for individuals. I think it is more of a problem with partnerships because no one wants to go into business with there partners wife, brother, parents, etc..

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bolo1107

12 years ago

Who takes over?

Good question. It has entered my mind a few times but never been seriously considered - till now.

Last night i was having a morbid conversation over a few beers with an old high school buddy, counting batch mates who've "passed on". Kinda depressing since we thought we were young and invincible a quarter of a century ago.

Then i saw this post. I need to do some SERIOUS thinking.

Thanks
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Christine2011

12 years ago

Originally Posted by bolo1107

Who takes over?

Good question. It has entered my mind a few times but never been seriously considered - till now.

Last night i was having a morbid conversation over a few beers with an old high school buddy, counting batch mates who've "passed on". Kinda depressing since we thought we were young and invincible a quarter of a century ago.

Then i saw this post. I need to do some SERIOUS thinking.

Yes...and I guess even younger ones need to think about it because
truly nothing is certain in this world...

Thanks

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vivaarturo

12 years ago

leave it in my will and have it managed by a team

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Bballer1

12 years ago

I'll be starting an online business with a family member so I guess all proceeds will go to her when I die.

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davejug1

12 years ago

It would be interesting to know Paypals viewpoint on this one. All confirmed bank accounts are in the deceaseds name and I don't know about the US but in the UK, once a person dies, their bank account is frozen (even to the point where joint accounts close and single accounts are opened in the surviving spouses name) so you would not be able to get the money out of Paypal.

I wonder if sight of the will would allow them to transfer assets and I wonder how much money they have made through this already. Is there a point where they say "Well nobody has accessed this money for ten years, it's now considered ours"?

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zeroday

12 years ago

I have my businesses setup so my Fiance takes over, along with manuals on how to do everything from a-z along with a support team(that already works for me) to handle it all. They will also teach her how to do everything if she doesn't know how to do certain things.

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Rita Kusmayanti

12 years ago

I will bequeath my business to my son. So, i introduce him how it goes step by step. If one day i die or retired my son is ready to continue my business.

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r2r

12 years ago

This the good question you asked.. Actually answer of this question is that if we have business then we can involve our family member in our business. After we die they can continue our business and no one can take our our business. But in this there is one possible that after we die our son or any of our family can take our our business and continue that same. So best in this is that we can involve our family member's like son, daughter etc.

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Rod Cortez

12 years ago

Originally Posted by Terry Coombes

Morbid, I know. Most of us have insurance for all kinds of eventualities - personally I avoid any insurance I'm not forced to have. But it nags at me that (should I ever make any money

) if I die, since nobody is really aware of what I do, my millions could be lying in a vault at PayPal for the rest of eternity.

Given that many Internet Marketers seem to be solo operators - we very often read on the Forum that family and friends think the IM'er is "just playing on the computer" - how would your online business continue without you? Do you have the equivalent of a "disaster plan" to enable someone else to take over? Would anyone in your online world even be aware that you were no longer around in the offline world?

I've no hidden agenda, just a genuine interest in whether others have given it any thought. Maybe someone needs to start a service that provides a (very) secure repository for "in the event of my death..." documents and gives the peace of mind of knowing that if you do die, your online business and your family's interests will be taken care of. Or maybe such a service already exists.

Terry

This should be part of every one's estate planning. Having an exit strategy for your business in case of death or disability is a must. My exit strategy is clearly outlined in my living trust, will, and other legal documents. Even though I'm fairly young by some people's standards, I took care of this as soon as my business replaced the income from my j.o.b.

Another key thing to have for your business is a continuity plan. What would you do for your customers / clients in case of a natural disaster such as a fire, earthquake, tornado, etc.?

This is where financial planners and estate planning attorneys can really help you out as these things can vary depending on what state and/or country you live in.

In the event of my death, my manager would take over my business under my brother's supervision.

RoD

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pjdengler 12 years ago

My brother will take it over. He is the only person I have 100% trust in.
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taniharjo

12 years ago

My son will take care of it. If you have none, you need to train somebody you trust. Preferably a direct family member

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zabereu

12 years ago

My idea is to unload the cash from all online accounts & to deposit them in banks as soon as possible otherwise in such cases as we die .I think paypal don`t have any obligations to take money from our accounts without any hesitation. hope this helps

yes indeed it`s a great idea to start a service which takes cares of all the money of I.M`ers to hand it over to families or whoever they wish to

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scsheldon33

12 years ago

This makes me think seriously ...

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paigelee

12 years ago

Actually it didn't cross my mind but honestly it is really a great idea having some sort of insurance could be a security if something happens to you.

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dorianjohn425 12 years ago

Originally Posted by paigelee

Actually it didn't cross my mind but honestly it is really a great idea having some sort of insurance could be a security if something happens to you.

Yeah, I agree...especially when there is no one still in the family who is capable for training yet...
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onegoodman

12 years ago

I actually got the same question to myself sometimes, for people around me, they get bored if even bothered talk about what i doing online. They just call it "it is complicated or not smart enough to learn" both statement bother me. I think it is hard to actually force anyone to learn.

However, at some point I know the only way to keep it going is to turn into LLC or other company type to reserve it.

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serena85

12 years ago

I will leave all of the passwords, account names, paypal accounts and so on to a lawyer, with instructions:
- all there is there remains to my son/daughter but only with the condition to sell all of it
- I can not risk that they should invest the money in a field that have no idea how it works.

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danieldroga

12 years ago

Nice thoughts you got there, there was a time when I thought about that, my family is not really interested on my online business so I guess I can't just tell them to keep my business for me when I die.

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Frank Ayres

12 years ago

nobody for me, my wife has already said that if i died she wouldnt want the business so would shut it down which is a shame as it would give he an extra $3k a month.

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chuckwells

12 years ago

If is a substantial size business then will it to somebody. When you die and go to heaven you can not take it with you, so it really should not matter to you. If you and your family depend on the income give all the login details to one of them. They should be able to change everything over to their credentials.

I guess the bottom line is making arrangements is for your family's benefit not yours.

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IMWinner 12 years ago

I really never thought of it until I saw this post.
Last month, I slowly introduced my IM world to my wife, although she was hesitant at first and always said that she is not interested with my work. I think that is the most common reaction of your wife or girlfriend if you want her to learn the business that you do.
I am just preparing in case, I would be sent to other places since I still have my daytime job, I could inform her to manage my IM business for the time being that I was away from my computer. Since I want her to learn the IM business, in case, she wants to buy something for the kids; she can earn even taking good care of the kids.
I would really want them to learn what I have been doing, although I cannot force them to go full-time, at least, they have this information and understanding of the IM business.
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- Terry Coombes 12 years ago
  
  One thing some of the replies have made me think about is the faith we tend to put in banks and other institutions in these situations - the assumption is that they'll do the right and the decent thing under such circumstances. I'm sure there are some who've had experiences that are quite the opposite.
  
  Terry
  
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Who Takes Over Your Business When You Die?

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