The hardest problems success creates aren’t investment problems. They’re decision problems.
Success creates choices. It also creates complexity: in how a business is structured, how wealth transfers, and how a family is protected when circumstances change.
In practical terms, that can mean funding a shareholder agreement, protecting the company from the loss of a key person, restructuring outdated insurance, or preparing for an eventual transfer of ownership.
The work is done alongside the accountant and the lawyer already in place, not in place of them. Most owners have capable advisors. What can be missing is someone focused on how the pieces fit together. That is where Sheldrake concentrates its attention.
Shareholder funding, key people, corporate-owned insurance, succession and estate liquidity.
Business owner planning →A written review of the renewal, the plan design and how the plan is funded, with the trade-offs laid out before anything changes.
Group benefits →For accountants and lawyers coordinating ownership, estate or succession planning for a client.
For professional advisors →See the problem before choosing the solution.
Coverage & Continuity
How much capital would the family, the business, and the estate each actually require?
Three obligations, three different decisions, separated so each can be sized on its own terms.
Explore the analysis →What Your Business Owes at Death
How much tax is quietly embedded in the shares of a private company?
The exemption is valuable only if the shares continue to qualify.
The largest bill a family may ever receive can arrive the day an owner dies. The first step is knowing what it could be.
Explore the analysis →Estate Equalization
When one child inherits the business, what makes the others whole?
Each heir receives approximately $3.15M. The business stays whole. Assumes a $900K liquid estate, $450K of tax at death, and the remainder divided equally among all three heirs.
Fair and equal aren't the same thing. This sizes the gap between them, and the insurance that closes it.
Explore the analysis →Shareholder Funding Gap
Is there enough capital to actually fund a shareholder buyout?
The agreement determines what should happen. The funding determines whether it can.
A funding gap is not automatically an insurance need. But it is always a question worth answering before a triggering event arrives.
Explore the analysis →Figures shown are illustrative examples, not estimates for any individual, and do not constitute tax, legal, or financial advice.
Ask Sheldrake a planning question →
Who you work with
Zachary Sikorski CHS · EPC · CEA
Principal
Steven Bacher CHS
Practice Partner
Tom Lowden BA, GBA, PFA, CFP
Group Benefits, Strategic Partner
Most of our work begins with a conversation.
Many relationships begin with an introduction. Business owners and advisors can reach out directly. If the work described here reflects a decision you are facing, you are welcome to begin the conversation.
Please don't include health details or policy numbers. If a renewal review makes sense, we'll ask for the documents securely.
Sheldrake Group Inc. O/A Sheldrake Group is a licensed life insurance agency in Ontario. Information on this page is general in nature and is not tax, legal or insurance advice.