Dads Gone Now What?

dkillianjr

Hey matt, sorry to hear about your dad. Good luck to you and your family.

Dave

Stock

I know the turmoil you world is in at this time ,and my deepest sympathies for your loss.As others have said here,a little patience and understanding is the order of the day "decide in haste repent at leisure."
As you said you dad worked hard to establish what he had and by the sounds of it knocked some of the corners of his off spring ,all of you will feel the huge chasm in your lives after the loss of such a devoted mentor and role model ,but use what he taught you ,work hard ,seek advice if you need it and finally learn to walk before you run ....

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Common sense is not common practice

WNYcarpenter

My condolences as well! I'm very close to my dad and I lean on him for advice on everything!

Family and personal affairs are your priority for now. Make sure your family is situated before you tackle the business end. If you're involved with the contacting friends and relatives, you may want to contact your father's clientel, suppliers and creditors as well. They'll be understanding and give you time for your family to decide what is best for all of you.

You and your brothers are forced to grow up faster than some of us, and you have large shoes to fill! You can do it!

Seth

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"I knew I lost my wallet as soon as I threw my pants over the fence". -'lil jarhead bro when asking for a wire transfer...

Gus Dering

I'm sorry for your loss.

As so many others have said, slow down, breathe , mourn and then move on.

If your dad had a bookkeeper he or she should be able to help with the vendors and employee issues as well as accounts receivable. Get people paid when you can. You and your brother have more time to decide what to do than you think.

All the answers will come. Have faith in yourself that you have the wisdom to see them when they are there.

My heart goes out to you and your family.

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Every parent who has walked barefoot into their child's room late at night hates Legos

DueEast

Number 1 Priority: Mother and Siblings

Framer53

Sorry to hear of your loss!
Will be praying for you and your family

TxElectrician

Sorry for your loss.

As others have said, you do not have to rush into decisions. Seek council.

Pray for strength, guidance and wisdom.

mattp

First Id like to say thanks to everyones condolences even after I didn't ask for it.

Some brief info. and answers to your questions: Company is an LLC. Everything dad owed to business and personal was on one loan. There is enough money and insurance to pay off that debt and still have about 5 hundred grand, not real sure yet bc we haven't looked at all the bills. He just finished up two jobs all we need to do is move out the equipment and get the checks.

That said we don't have any jobs to go to next, he was bidding several Friday. There is how ever a half million dollar roofing project coming up in my town the is prevailing, which you guys know roofing is my trade. Maybe this came up for a reason. My dad keeps his own books I remember the day I introduced him to Quick books, he used the old ledger paper for many moons. He love to organize all his stuff on it. There is no question my brother and I can work together. Ya well disagree at times but we can get along and settle disagreements in a professional matter. I already told him I have no problem working under him if needed. I'm not sure about the will yet we'll get to that tomorrow. I believe we can run this business, many of his subs and gcs has told us they'd help if needed. My brother wants to continue without a doubt just like dad would want but we also understand that if its not realistic then we explore other routes.

If you guys have any other questions Ill be back to answer and listen to your advice. Thanks again guys, it's crazy reading your posts as you describe my dad like you knew him all you life. He might of not been the best but there was sure no one any better.

Teetorbilt

I'm sorry for your loss.

I went through the same thing at age 20. Dad was killed in a plane crash and was also in the final stages of a divorce. We had 6 commercial jobs running in a downtown restoration project at the time + 64 employees. He was also killed right before Christmas and the banks froze all of the accounts.

I not only had to tell people ( most were my senior's) that they were not getting bonuses but they were also not getting their pay.

Get tough and you'll get through it.

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You can't solve you're problems with the same level of thinking that created the problems.

Albert Einstein

Metro M & L

I hope your family is better than most I've been around following a death. Funerals often bring out the worst in a lot of people; especially the children of the deceased. All of the old family jealousies, rivalries, grudges all come to the surface. I would not be surprised if you have a major fight with your sibling/possible partner.

BTW partnership is the LEAST desirable form of business organization. If I were you I would not even discuss it. Corporation sure. If your mother did not predecease your father she may well be the owner at this point. That may be for the best; with your mother signing the checks and you and your brother getting the work done and building your understanding of the books.

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"Yeah... It's worthy of a sig quote."

J F

Was your father the only member of the LLC, or was your brother also a member?

I believe if the only member of an LLC passes away, then the company is disolved, but as always, check with your attorney.

And metro may well be correct, that your mother may well be the new owner/managing partner.

mattp

No it was my dad, brother, and mom that owned the business. We are just not sure who ownes what right now. My dad just told my brother to sign.

joasis

Thoughts and prayers.

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CA Contractor

God bless you, Matt & your family - this is tough but you will make it through. Can't add much to the good advice from others, other than contacting an attorney. Once you're ready to look into the business dealings make sure all is in writing -- even tho it's family. The craziest things have happened w/families in business. Take care.......

Ed the Roofer

Matt,

The title of this made me fearful of opening it up and commenting, because both of my folks are up in years and my Dad is in continual poor health, and I dread the day that will come in due time for me to be addressing the same issue.

I'm sorry for posting so late, but sincerely felt that the subject was too close to my heart with thoughts I concern myself about, but it was time to finally man up and offer you my deepest sympathy and any tidings at all that could offer you comfort, but I am totally without a clue as to what to say to you, except I hope that you know your family will be in my prayers.

As a bit of business advice, there was a very similar situation that one of our beloved fellow elderly respected contractors wrote about which he had to go through due to the early departure of one of his sons.

The man I refer to is Sonny Lykos, who has written about his other son trying to run his deceased sons business just to finish the outstanding contracts that were already started.

I will try to find that for you, but I believe that Mark Buckshon, (Publisher1), has it written in his Construction Marketing Ideas Blog, so I will try to find the post for you to read for ideas to consider.

God Bless,

Ed



EDIT:
Here is a link to that article and some pitfalls that you, the family and the business should be aware of.....

http://www.allbusiness.com/human-res...1101271-1.html





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mattp

Thanks again guys. Honestly Ed I was a little worried as to why you hadn't replied but as usual you had a good reason. Now everything has settled and I think this is were everything will set in over the next few days. As far as the business goes my brother and I have been going through everything and things keep popping up. You guys wont believe the paperwork required for these federal highway jobs, it's crazy! We're not sure which route to go roofing or bridge building. We are still comparing the pros and cons to each.

Ed this might be my only chance to give you any advice, since you know a lot more than me business or roofing. Some things I will tell you. Enjoy every moment with your dad and son. There is never enough time no matter what. Don't be shy a lot of grown men hide their feeling especially toward their fathers, don't be afraid to tell him you love him. Probably the most important to me anyways is know his faith. I'm a Christian and there is no doubt my dad is in heaven with Jesus. It is a lot more comforting knowing he is at peace.

Ed the Roofer

I place Family very high on my priorities and am so extremely grateful that I finally had a child after marrying for the 2nd time. I just turned 52 and my son is 6 1/2 and we are like glue.

I do tell both my Mom and Dad that I Love them every time we get together and talk.

Also, as another Family example, last Sunday I was watching a TV show that happened to have a lot of clips from WWII from Iwo Jima and Guada Canal, which made me think of my even older than my parents, Uncles who all served tin the various forces.

My Uncle Stanley, who is now 88 years old was a belly ball turret gunner on a B-52? and got shot down and had to parachute twice over hostile territory. He escaped the first time with the aide of the Dutch Underground and wasn't so lucky the 2nd time.

The civilians that captured him already had him strung up on a rope from a tree limb to hang him, when the German Soldiers on patrol stopped that from occurring and captured him. He wound up spending about 1 1/2 years in a POW camp in Mooseberg Germany, and spent his 21st Birthday imprisoned.

So, last weekend, I took Little Eddie for a ride and went to his apartment and gave him a couple of hours worth of visiting time and it sure felt good.

I plan on making this a regular habit, both out of respect for each of my Aunts and Uncles and also so that my son can establish some better memories of his heritage and what our relatives before us endured so that we could have the life styles that we currently enjoy.

Yeah, Eddie got bored, just like I would have at that age, but at least we can more closely relate to one more of my Uncles and soo the other ones too.

Still, I am sorry for such a close personal loss for you and your family and my Prayers are with you.

God Bless.

Ed

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