Picture the owner of an Oklahoma City machine shop. She wants her daughter to inherit the value of the company, but she hasn’t decided who signs payroll or talks to the bank if a stroke keeps her out of the office for three months. Her will answers the first question. It doesn’t touch the second.
That gap is why business owners need more than a standard will package. Below are seven Oklahoma City attorneys and firms that handle estate planning, followed by the issues owners of closely held companies should raise with whoever they hire.
Key Takeaways
- A business interest carries two rights, economic value and voting control, and they don’t have to pass to the same person.
- A personal power of attorney doesn’t replace your operating agreement or bylaws when it comes to running the company.
- A trust only governs a business interest that’s actually assigned to it, and company agreements may restrict that transfer.
- The federal estate tax basic exclusion is USD 15 million for 2026 and USD 15.48 million for 2027.
- A buy-sell agreement needs a funding source as well as a price.
How We Chose These Attorneys
We looked for Oklahoma City area lawyers and firms that handle wills, trusts and powers of attorney, with extra weight on probate, business law or succession experience. This list isn’t a ranking of case results. Check any attorney’s standing through the Oklahoma Bar Association before hiring, and remember that the OBA doesn’t endorse the lawyers it lists.
Top 7 Estate Planning Lawyers in Oklahoma City for Business Owners
1. Goodnight Law
Office: 1332 SW 89th St., Oklahoma City
Practice focus: Wills, revocable living trusts, powers of attorney, healthcare directives and business succession planning.
Bio: At Goodnight Law, owners work directly with attorney Kelli J. Goodnight under flat-fee pricing for most estate planning services. Home visits are available to help inventory assets.
2. Kevin L. Miller, PC
Office: LandMark Towers West, 3555 NW 58th Street, Suite 1000, Oklahoma City
Practice focus: Estate planning, wills, trusts, probate and elder law.
Bio: A practice led by an attorney with more than 40 years of experience, covering both the planning side and the probate work that follows a death.
3. GableGotwals
Office: Oklahoma City
Practice focus: Estate planning, probate and estate administration.
Bio: A full-service firm whose estate planning work can include succession of ownership and control of a family business, with probate court representation for estates with or without a will.
4. Hall Estill
Office: Downtown Oklahoma City
Practice focus: Estate planning, business law, litigation and tax planning.
Bio: A multi-practice firm that combines estate planning with business and tax counsel, a useful setup for owners who want corporate and personal documents handled under one roof.
5. Helton Law Firm
Office: Serves Oklahoma City clients
Practice focus: Estate planning, wills, trusts, probate and business law.
Bio: A firm that pairs estate planning and probate with business transactions and mergers and acquisitions work. Free consultations are offered, and Spanish is spoken.
6. Sarah Hartsfield
Office: Edmond
Practice focus: Estate planning, probate, business law and trademarks.
Bio: An attorney with more than 14 years of experience helping families and business owners, including succession planning documents that help heirs keep a business running. Free consultations are offered.
7. Parman & Easterday
Office: 7308 N. Classen Blvd., Suite B, Oklahoma City
Practice focus: Estate planning, business and probate.
Bio: An Oklahoma City firm whose practice spans estate planning, business matters and probate, a combination that suits owners whose personal and company affairs overlap.
Separate Value From Control
Before any documents get drafted, map what you own: each company interest, its entity type and your percentage, plus premises held personally, personal guarantees on company debt and any agreement that restricts transfers. Operating agreements, shareholder agreements and loan covenants can all limit who may receive your interest.
Then decide two things separately. Who should benefit financially from distributions and sale proceeds? And who should hold voting rights or choose leadership? An owner with two adult children, only one of whom works in the business, might want both to share the value equally while the working child or a named manager makes decisions. Your attorney can assess how the company’s structure supports that split.
How Wills and Trusts Handle a Business Interest
| Question | Will | Funded revocable trust |
| When it operates | After death, through probate | During life, during incapacity if the terms allow and after death |
| What it governs | Probate property | Assets properly transferred into it |
| Incapacity | No lifetime authority | A successor trustee can manage trust assets |
| Business interest | Passes through probate unless arranged otherwise | Only if assigned, and only where company agreements permit |
The Oklahoma Bar Association describes a will as a written instrument directing how property is distributed after death. ACTEC explains that a revocable trust can help assets avoid probate only if they’re properly transferred during the grantor’s lifetime, and that an ordinary revocable trust doesn’t remove assets from your estate for tax purposes.
S-corporation owners need extra care. The IRS states that only individuals, estates and certain trusts can hold S-corporation shares, so get entity-specific tax advice before moving shares into any trust.
Retirement accounts and life insurance generally pass by beneficiary designation, not by your will. Check that every form matches the broader plan.
Who Runs the Company If You Can’t
Personal finances. A durable financial power of attorney lets an agent act for you during incapacity, within the powers the document grants. That authority ends at death, as the CFPB’s 2013 guide for agents explains.
The company itself. Your personal power of attorney doesn’t decide who manages an LLC or votes your shares. The operating agreement, bylaws or shareholder agreement does. Ask whether those documents name a successor manager or set a method for appointing one, and ask your bank what paperwork it would need before anyone else could act on company accounts.
Healthcare. Appointing a medical decision-maker and recording treatment instructions are separate tasks. Ask Oklahoma counsel to confirm that your documents cover both.
Funding the Ownership Handover
Choose the path. Common routes are a family transfer by gift, inheritance or sale, a purchase by a co-owner under a buy-sell agreement or a sale to an outside buyer. Confirm that the company’s transfer provisions allow the recipient you have in mind.
Set the value method. A buy-sell agreement can fix value by formula, appraisal or stated price, but that number isn’t automatically the value used for tax purposes. If a sale is the plan, the SBA recommends getting a business valuation before marketing to buyers.
Find the cash. A buyout agreement doesn’t supply the money. Remaining owners may need reserves, financing or insurance, and heirs may need cash for taxes or to equalise inheritances between children.
Review entity-owned insurance. In Connelly v. United States, decided June 6, 2024, the Supreme Court held that a corporation’s obligation to redeem a deceased shareholder’s shares at fair market value didn’t reduce the value of those shares. It’s a reason to review insurance-funded redemption arrangements, not a verdict on every buy-sell structure.
When a founder dies without these pieces in place, the family and the business can both get stuck waiting on the estate. This look at how probate works when a business founder dies shows what executors and families typically face.
Federal Tax Figures to Date-Stamp
Public Law 119-21, signed July 4, 2025, set the federal basic exclusion at USD 15 million for 2026. Revenue Procedure 2026-35, released November 5, 2026, raises it to USD 15.48 million for 2027. The annual gift tax exclusion is USD 19,000 per recipient for 2026 and USD 20,000 for 2027.
These figures apply to your whole estate, not the business alone, and a company below the exclusion still needs a succession plan.
Questions to Ask Before You Hire
- How often do you plan for closely held business owners, and with which entity types?
- Will you review my operating or shareholder agreement before recommending a trust transfer?
- Who handles trust funding, and how will we confirm each transfer is complete?
- Do you work with valuation specialists on buy-sell pricing?
- How will you coordinate with my CPA and business lawyer?
Ask for the scope and exclusions in writing. An estate planning package covering wills, trusts and powers of attorney may not include succession documents or agreement amendments.
What to Bring to the First Meeting
Gather existing wills, trusts and powers of attorney; formation records and ownership ledgers; operating, shareholder and buy-sell agreements; beneficiary forms for retirement accounts and life insurance; summaries of insurance held by you or the company; and recent financial statements or valuations.
Revisit the plan after changes in ownership, family circumstances, business value or federal and Oklahoma law. ACTEC notes that a buy-sell agreement suited to today may not fit in five or 10 years.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who are the top estate planning lawyers in Oklahoma City for business owners?
The seven attorneys and firms profiled above all handle estate planning in the Oklahoma City area, several with probate, business law or succession experience. Compare how each would coordinate personal documents with your company agreements.
Does a will alone avoid probate?
No. A will directs how probate property is distributed. Assets avoid probate through routes such as a properly funded trust or a beneficiary designation.
Can my financial power of attorney run the company after I die?
No. An agent’s authority ends at death. After that, authority comes from the estate’s representative, a successor trustee or the company’s governing documents.
Does every business owner need a trust?
No. It depends on your goals, how assets are owned, family circumstances and company transfer restrictions. Ask what a trust would change for each specific asset.
