Handover Charter

Most families planning a succession have legal documents that move ownership: a shareholder agreement, wills, perhaps trusts. Very few have written down the practical rules of the handover itself, which is where much of the friction comes from. A Handover Charter fills that gap. It fits on one page, it is written together in the room, and it is signed by both founder and successor. It is not a legal document.

It covers five things:

• What changes, and when. The decisions that move to the successor, with dates.
• What stays with the founder, and for how long. The decisions the founder keeps for now, and when each will be reviewed.
• How we disagree. Disagree in private, decide together, present as one, and what happens when they still do not agree.
• The founder’s new role. What the founder will do from now on, and what they will no longer do.
• The announcement. Who tells the family, the board, the senior team, the company and key partners, in what order.

A free, printable template is available on the Handover Charter page, and the Journal article The Handover Charter explains how to write one.

Handover Charter or family constitution?

A family constitution sets out how the whole family governs its relationship with the business over the long term. A Handover Charter is narrower and more immediate: an agreement between two people about one transition. The article family constitution vs handover charter sets out how they fit together.

How Second Chair™ uses it

Every Second Chair™ engagement ends with a facilitated handover session of two and a half to three hours, with the successor, the parent and anyone the family chooses. The successor speaks first, the five areas are worked through in turn, and the session ends with a signed one-page Handover Charter. The article on what happens in the handover session describes it in full.