Dead reckoning helps others

Death - people don't want to talk about it.

But given Oamaru's ageing population, you've got to, says business educator Deane Purdue.

Gisborne-based Mr Purdue was in Oamaru speaking to local business owners and farmers about designing a process around succession and exiting.

"In more recent years, farmers and city businesses and small family-owned businesses are finding it increasingly difficult to find successors. Children don't want to do what their parents did," he said.

"The time is coming when they have to think about moving out of their businesses, particularly farmers, but they can't find a successor."

In Gisborne, Mr Purdue said there was a rapidly decreasing number of family-owned businesses.

"They're all national - Cotton On, Hallensteins.

"People are really nervous about starting up business. We're in a very unusual space. You look around, it's just national stuff coming in, we're living in very unusual times."

His strong recommendation was that anyone who is in business, or acquiring a business, should start with the end in mind - as if ready for someone to walk in the door and say 'I want to buy it'.

For his Oamaru trip, he largely dealt with farm succession, working with McKenzie Craik to encourage families to have planning days.

Growing up on a farm can give children one of the best upbringings, but that same farm can also divide a family if succession is not planned well.

"I've seen a huge number of wills, and I can say Kiwi wills are very poor," he said.

"They don't reflect people's estate, they don't reflect their values and their desired outcomes and so many are hopelessly out of date. People just don't want to face up to mortality. It's hopeless.

"Don't just have an outdated will, embrace the idea of making it easy for the people you leave behind."

Which brings him to protection planning before succession can be tackled. Protection includes wills, enduring powers of attorney, life insurance and health insurance.

What we too often had, he said, was succession by default instead of succession by design.

"It's never too early to put time aside and plan, as David Lange once said, 'there's always time for a cup of tea'." If it was talked about with the whole family, everyone at least knew what was going to happen, he said.

"I use the term future proofing. People have a whole range of issues, it's not just about succession and the first thing you have to do is batten down the hatches, get your safety net in place," he said.

"Decide what it is you want, what the children want and start preparing the plan ... Get the whole team together, start thinking where are you now, what age you are, what have you got, what's your marriage like, what's the family relationship like."

Children do not want to suddenly find out that a sibling or two have been given the family's wealth and they've missed out - especially if they don't find out until they read your will.

"If you want to keep a family together, you do this, the days of secrecy are over," he said.

"Start now, start planning for your succession now. Parents really don't know what the children's expectations are. They say they know, but I will not believe what parents tell me about children's wants now."

One of Mr Purdue's recommendations is to create a "guide to the living file" which includes wills, power of attorney details, and a memorandum of wishes.