The need to start thinking about succession planning does not typically arise until the founder and his or her spouse enter their sixties. By this time, the last of the children will usually have left home, and the couple might be trying to adjust to the vacuum produced by the empty nest. Unresolved marital difficulties that for years had lain dormant, masked by the continual pressures of childrearing and business start-up, may well re-emerge during this period. The death or illness of the couple's parents often exerts additional pressure.
The thought of growing increasingly dependent on others is especially difficult for couples who place value
