When a business partner dies without proper estate planning, their lack of organization can become your legal and financial crisis. Many successful business owners protect their personal estates with trusts, tax planning, and probate-avoidance strategies—yet never stop to consider whether their business partner has done the same. And when a partner’s outdated will, unfunded trust, or complete lack of planning collides with your carefully structured legacy, the result can be devastating: frozen shares, probate delays, hostile heirs, operational disruption, valuation disputes, and costly litigation that can drag on for months or even years.