Succession planning in closely-held and family businesses is often treated as the owner's personal estate matter — handled quietly with outside counsel, disconnected from the company itself. But much of what actually protects continuity through a transition lives inside the company's own documents and relationships, where in-house counsel is best positioned to lead. This session focuses on the practical, company-side planning GC can own or drive: keeping governance and ownership documents transition-ready, pressure-testing the buy-sell, securing key non-family talent, building emergency authority for the unplanned exit, and coordinating cleanly with the owner's estate and tax counsel so the two plans don't work against each other.