5th March 2026 ❘

Succession Planning: It’s Not Just About the Future

Richard Miller, Chairperson and Agribusiness Partner

By Richard Miller – Wealth and Succession Planning Partner

Succession Planning: It’s Not Just About the Future

When most people hear the phrase “succession planning,” they picture a distant, future‑focused process—something to be considered only when approaching retirement or preparing to hand over the reins to the next generation. But for family commercial and farming businesses in particular, succession isn’t just an event on the horizon. It’s something shaped by every decision you make today. It’s less about predicting the future and more about recognising that the groundwork for a successful transition of your wealth is already being laid, day by day, through operational, financial, and structural choices.

Every Action Today Shapes Tomorrow’s Transition

Family businesses—whether commercial operations or farms—tend to evolve organically. Property is bought when opportunities arise. Assets are developed over time. Structures are put in place because they seem to make sense in the moment. Yet each one of these decisions can have long‑term implications for succession, taxation, wealth transfer, and family harmony.

For instance, the way you choose to buy a property now—personally, jointly, through a company, or via a trust—could dramatically alter how easily that asset can be passed on later. The ownership structure affects everything from capital gains exposure, to inheritance tax planning, to options for future refinancing. Many people only consider these issues at the point of succession, but by then, options may already be limited due to tax constraints, time limits or where family relations have broken down.

Trusts and Structures Are Not Just Administrative Tools

Similarly, the creation of discretionary trusts is often seen as a technical tax exercise. But trusts are powerful strategic tools within a broader succession framework. They can manage risk, protect assets from external claims, support younger family members, and create a long‑term system for stewardship. A trust established during the building phase of the business is often far more effective—and more flexible—than one created reactively later in life. Discretionary trusts are ideal for investments projected for significant future growth in value whereby such value can be established, controlled and distributed outside of your estate.

Family farming businesses, in particular, frequently pass through generations with little formal structure. However, the complexity of modern agriculture often benefits significantly from thoughtful use of companies, partnerships, and trusts. Getting these arrangements right now with formal written agreements that are kept up to date can make the eventual transition smoother and avoid the common pitfalls of unclear ownership or outdated structures.

Growing Wealth Beyond the Core Estate

Another key component of modern succession planning is the deliberate growth of wealth outside the main estate or core business. This is not simply a diversification strategy—it’s a practical way to give future generations financial flexibility without fragmenting business-critical assets.

In farming families, this can be especially important. Land is often the principal asset but selling it to create liquidity for heirs can undermine the business’s viability. Building wealth outside the estate—through investments, pensions, or secondary businesses—gives families more options when planning inheritances or providing for non‑farming children. Again, these plans must begin early. You cannot suddenly create external wealth at the moment you wish to transfer the farming assets.

The Rothchild Way

The Rothschild family put in place a coordinated family structure, which allowed the family to compound wealth. As generations passed, the family maintained this philosophy by emphasising “lack of order will turn a millionaire into a beggar”. In modern times, the family have utilised large private trusts providing asset protection, multi‑generational continuity, and tax‑efficient growth. Taken together, the Rothschilds exemplify how deliberate structuring, early planning and consistent governance can preserve significant wealth across future generations.

Succession Is a Process, Not an Event

The biggest misconception about succession planning is that it is something you start when you’re ready to finish. But effective succession is the cumulative result of many small, well‑considered and informed decisions made over decades. It is embedded in how you acquire assets, how you structure businesses and transactions, how you manage tax exposure, how you involve younger generations, and how you document your future intentions within your Wills.

More importantly, early thinking helps avoid conflict. Families often encounter tension not because they disagree about the future, but because nobody realised how past decisions limited their choices.

Act Now

Succession planning is not a document you prepare—it’s a mindset. Every business decision, ownership structure and financial choice contributes to the story of how your business will evolve beyond you. For family commercial enterprises and farming businesses alike, it is recognising that the decisions you take today set your business and family on a path to the future – whether this is the right path depends on the advice you take along the way and the proactive approach you take with your family when making these decisions.

If you’d like further advice you can contact Richard directly on 01228 552 296, or you can find out more about our Wealth and Succession Planning service here.