There are lots of other contractual and legal matters that need to be settled as well, like how you are going to be paid (I wouldn't expect it to be all-cash and all up-front, honestly, or you'll be selling at a significant discount), but this article was simply written to outline some of the most obvious problems with succession planning, and I find that they are the two things discussed above: Annuitization of the practice and the succession, or transfer, of the book of clients to the new financial professional from the old.
And one last thing - get yourself a good lawyer. The buyer is going to have one and probably one that just works in this area all day long. You need a good one too, one who is a specialist or, trust me, down the road, you are going to realize that you did not make the deal you could have, or that you should have. Your family lawyer, with all due respect, is not the attorney you are going to need in this
matter.
James Manouse is founder of todaysadvisor.com.