Small businesses frequently depend on one person’s signature. Planning for their absence is a governance question, not only a personal one.

Corporate authority. Resolutions designating alternate signatories by office, with defined thresholds, filed with the bank and with key counterparties.

Banking resolutions kept current. Institutions rely on the most recent resolution on file, and an outdated one is discovered at the worst moment.

Durable power of attorney for the owner personally, covering the authority to vote the ownership interest, to act in the business, and to sign entity documents. Many general forms do not clearly extend to business interests, and institutions reject those that are ambiguous.

Operating agreement provisions addressing incapacity: who exercises the member’s rights, how incapacity is determined, and whether a buyout is triggered.

Trust ownership. Where the interest is held in trust, the trustee exercises the rights, and the trust must permit holding and operating a business.

Practical checklist. Access to systems and accounts documented and held securely; an authority matrix; a list of critical relationships with contacts; and an annual review. Businesses interrupted by an owner’s sudden absence lose value quickly, and almost all of it is preventable.