Formation done for the second decade, not the first week
Filing articles takes minutes; the value is in what governs afterward. We form Missouri and Kansas LLCs and corporations with operating agreements and bylaws written for the moments that actually test them: a member's death or divorce, a deadlock between equal owners, a partner who wants out, a partner who should be out. An operating agreement downloaded from the internet is silent on precisely these questions, and silence is the most expensive clause of all.
The buy-sell agreement, the estate plan's best friend
For a closely held company, a funded buy-sell agreement answers the question every co-owner's family will otherwise ask a probate judge: who owns this now, and at what price? We draft cross-purchase and redemption structures, coordinate the life insurance that funds them, and set valuation mechanisms that will hold up when used. Then we make sure the owners' estate plans and the agreement point the same direction, because a trust that owns membership units the operating agreement forbids it to hold is a dispute on a timer.
Succession, begun while it is still a choice
The best succession plans start five to ten years out, while the founder still has leverage, options, and time to train a successor. We structure gradual transfers to children active in the business, buyouts that are fair to the children who are not, key-employee purchases, and, where the right answer is a sale, we prepare the company so diligence finds order instead of surprises.
The steady work of a company's year
Beyond the milestone documents, we serve as outside counsel for the recurring needs of small companies:
- Contract drafting and review: customer agreements, vendor terms, leases
- Employment offer letters, restrictive covenants, and separation agreements
- Member and shareholder resolutions, minutes, and annual maintenance
- Purchases and sales of business assets and real estate
- Registered agent changes, conversions, and multi-state registrations across the state line