Why You Should Start Preparing Your Ultimate Exit Strategy NowYou don't want your family to fight after you're gone, and you don't want the IRS to claim more than is necessary during the transition. Here are a few basics rules of thumb for creating a succession plan.

When my father died from a long bout with cancer 10 days before his 50th birthday, he left behind a decade-oldfamily business. "This company is my legacy," he told me a week before his death. "If you boys are careful, it'll support the family for years to come. It'll be like the goose that laid golden eggs."

Because my father planned ahead--in his will, he left 10 percent of the company to each of his three sons and one cousin, and 60 percent to his wife--the process of passing the business from one generation to the next went smoothly. Well, sort of.

My father did ruffle our feathers so that his business could survive.