Monday, September 19, 2011

Estate Planning for Arizona pharmacy owners

By Brad MacLiver
Authorship and profile at Google


With the current market many Arizona pharmacy owners are experiencing lower profit margins, and have considered selling. A pharmacy industry roll-up has been going for years, consolidating the pharmacy seller's customer traffic into fewer pharmacy locations. There are however a number of pharmacies that are not in a geographical location with other nearby pharmacies, such consolidation can not take place. Some Arizona drug store owners, despite their location or what is happening in the industry, has taken a stand and will not consider selling. But like paying taxes, an exit of the company is ultimately inevitable.

Estate Planning is a subject that many people, in all industries, timid. The Arizona pharmacy owner who works 6 days a week, taking very few vacations, fill scripts all day, then mops the floor and makes the books at night, it usually is not much time to consider additional things like estate planning. But, knowing that it will be a transfer of business, it is fundamental for pharmacy owners to consider a proper succession plan for the pharmacy business.

Develop a plan to transfer operations will be time consuming, but done correctly allows the Arizona company to be successfully transferred in an acceptable manner. An estate plan for a pharmacy owner need not be immutable process. Fine-tuning, updating, and changes recommended by government regulation, economic conditions and personal expectations change.

Estate planning allows a pharmacy owner to anticipate and provide for the transfer of the drug store. The plan will be formatted in an attempt to eliminate uncertainty, to assist the transfer by trimming costs and cutting taxes.

Process may involve Trusts, wills, living wills, Power of Attorney, Medical Power of Attorney, Business Valuation, Life Insurance, a charitable remainder Trusts, Buy-Sell Agreements and other legal documents. All aspects of estate planning for the pharmacy owners coordinated guidelines.

If there are non-family members as partners in the Arizona drug store business, it is fundamental that estate planning include a Purchase-Sale Agreement. A buy-sell agreement, governs the transfer of business between the pharmacy partners. The agreement may also be known as a partner buyout agreement, or a company wants. To protect the family in the event of death of a partner, buy-sell agreement funded with life insurance.

Estate planning, buy-sell agreements, and transferring of a pharmacy requires an accurate pharmacy valuation. This should be completed by a third party who has expertise in the pharmaceutical industry. Using simple accounting formulas, multipliers, and a valuator inexperienced in pharmacies will not provide an accurate business valuation.

Most Arizona pharmacy owners spend a large part of their lives to build the business. The effort should not disappear because the pharmacy owner refuses to accept their mortality, and plan accordingly. The only pharmacist in a small town is usually the pharmacy's owner. If the script can not be filled by a licensed pharmacist since the law the client files must be transferred to another pharmacy. Because of this, a pharmacy business value fall to a negligible figure in just a few days after the death of the owner. Contingencies outlined in an estate plan should address this issue. Unfortunately, due to not having an effective plan in place, each year a number of pharmacy owners die and their families are left with an asset with very little value.

Tips for Pharmacy Owners Doing Estate Planning:

1. When the family pharmacy is the only means of income for many families it becomes more fundamental to have a set plan in place.

2. To avoid disputes should estate plans should be developed with clear directives.

3. Minimize tax liabilities is an fundamental goal for most people to complete an estate plan should be an expert tax advice should be sought.

4 Many online documents and books are available that provide advice and documents to develop an estate plan. When you go to self-help route, it is advisable to have a paid expert review the completed documentation to ensure that it can be legally respected when the time comes.

5. While developing the farm plan, it is fundamental to talk with children and other family members of the pharmacy market owner especially if there are any family members who work in business and others do not.

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