Four years ago, the last thing Matt Porter expected was the sudden death of the financial advisor leasing space in his firm’s office.

Porter is the owner of Cornerstone Financial Advisors, a family-owned and operated practice in Idaho Falls, Idaho.

Porter and his now-retired partner, father-in-law Darren Josephson, decided to purchase his office tenant’s advisory practice after its owner died of a heart attack in March 2015.

“We felt an obligation to his family to make sure they were taken care of, and since we knew many of his clients, we wanted to make sure they were taken care of, too,” Porter said to Financial Advisor in May.

It was an easy decision for the two partners to make, but not to carry out, Porter said. In fact, he said, it proved to be a challenge.

“Even though we were in the same office, his business model was commission-based, while ours was advisory,” Porter said.

Even more difficult was breaking the news of the advisor’s sudden death to his many clients.

“If you have a relationship with someone for a long period of time and it ends abruptly, it can be awkward,” Porter said.

Building new relationships with someone else’s established clients was not the only concern the two partners had.

According to Porter, while his firm managed approximately $150 million in assets for about 325 to 350 clients at that time, the business he and his father-in-law acquired managed only a tenth of that amount—approximately $10 million to 15 million in assets—yet had as many as 150 clients, increasing Cornerstone’s service accounts by as much as another 50 percent.

The disproportionate number of clients requiring service relative to the amount of managed assets they brought to the firm in potential revenue wasn’t the only problem the two partners encountered after acquiring another advisor’s business.

“He was more insurance-focused than we were, another caveat for us,” Porter said. “Although we did insurance, we did indexed annuities, while he was more into investment annuities.”

Technology was yet another hurdle for Porter and Josephson to overcome in absorbing another practice into their own. Since the deceased advisor’s technology was not as advanced as that of Cornerstone, the task of accessing his client files was laborious and time-consuming.

After struggling to service both Cornerstone’s clients and those of their former tenant, Porter and Josephson hired another client-facing advisor, Jon Petersen, to help with the transition.

As difficult as the acquisition was for Cornerstone to consummate, it was no less a burden to the late advisor’s family. Because there was no succession plan in place, the two partners could not afford to pay more for the business than it was worth with the owner gone.

“Without a succession plan, you have to essentially recreate the wheel,” Porter said.

That has long been an issue of concern for Cornerstone’s affiliate, Cetera Financial Group. Headquartered in El Segundo, Calif., Cetera is the nation’s second-largest family of independent broker-dealers.

From early-onset dementia to medical emergencies to motor vehicle accidents and more, advisors have made sudden and unexpected exits from their practices for any number of reasons, but the net result is that a valuable asset can quickly become a liability in the absence of its owner.

Richard Whitworth, head of business consulting for Cetera, has facilitated over 250 advisor practice acquisitions since 2015. In that time, Whitworth said in a news release, Cetera has observed that the value of an advisory practice will decrease by as much as 75 percent within the first 60 days of an unplanned exit if no executable continuity plan is in place.

That dire prospect could soon change.

Last month, in collaboration with advisors on its Advisor Engagement Council and Enterprise Action Committee, as well as continuity and succession experts in financial services and the business community, Cetera launched a proprietary subscription program available to its network of advisors that can ensure the longevity and value of their business.

The new Legacy Builder Program provides succession and continuity planning to participating advisors in the event of an unforeseen and often tragic exit from their practice. Under the program, Cetera will find a qualified buyer or finance a portion of the transaction with an existing advisor within its network. If another Cetera-affiliated advisor cannot be found, Cetera will ensure the purchase of the advisor’s practice.

The Legacy Builder Program helps monetize the value of an advisor’s life’s work and provides financial stability through the client transition process to the next generation of owners. Core to the offering is an online valuation platform provided by Truelytics, which helps to access the value of the practice, as well as provide clear and actionable ways in which to get the most out of a firm’s value.

Porter said he’s already filled out his application to the program and intends to send it out as soon as possible.

Financial Advisor asked Porter what he learned from the experience of acquiring another advisor’s practice after the owner’s sudden and unexpected exit from it.

“When you’re doing a succession plan, make sure you’ve got a compatible business,” Porter said.

Asked if he would do it all over again, Porter said yes. However, he cautioned other advisors not to assume there will always be someone ready, willing and able to acquire their practice when the unexpected happens.

“We tell clients to plan, plan, plan, but don’t always do that for ourselves,” he said.

Founded in 1962, Cornerstone Financial Advisors provides individual wealth management and retirement and estate planning services to clients in Idaho Falls and Pocatello, Idaho.