Dennis, Wenger & Abrell, P.C., an Indiana law firm with offices in Muncie and Carmel, is calling on Hoosier families and business owners to revisit estate and succession planning documents in 2026. The push lands against a backdrop Indiana policymakers have been naming for more than a year: a wave of ownership transitions at small and family-owned companies, driven by a Boomer generation now crossing traditional retirement age in record numbers. What looks like a routine advisory reflects a deeper structural shift.
Roughly 300,000 Indiana business owners are nearing an exit, and those businesses account for about 45% of total statewide employment, according to Northwest Indiana Business Magazine, citing a 2020 Census Bureau survey. Most have no written plan for what comes next. Nationally, fewer than one in three Boomer business owners has a formal succession or exit plan in place, per Cornerstone Business Services’ 2025 National Study of 750 owners. Without a written plan, 92% of exits end in closure rather than transfer, according to a February 2026 McKinsey report.
The Firm Behind the Advisory
Dennis, Wenger & Abrell, P.C. serves clients through offices in Muncie, at 324 West Jackson Street, and in Carmel. The firm describes its practice as full-service Indiana counsel spanning estate planning and administration, wills and trusts, business law, real estate and litigation. According to the firm’s estate planning practice page, its attorneys coordinate with investment advisors, accountants, pension consultants, life underwriters and banking representatives to assemble comprehensive plans for clients at every stage of life. The firm’s attorneys bring more than 50 years of legal experience to clients throughout Central Indiana. The firm is now publicly urging Indiana residents to review their wills, trusts, powers of attorney and business succession documents in 2026.
It cites aging parents, blended family considerations, real estate ownership, business interests, retirement planning and unexpected life events as reasons the work has become more pressing. For business owners, the firm adds, succession planning has taken on added weight as Indiana faces a wave of ownership transitions among small and family-owned companies. For families, the firm frames it as clarifying who has authority to make medical or financial decisions, how property should be distributed and how loved ones should be protected.
The firm’s announcement leans on the framing that estate planning is about protecting people before a crisis forces the conversation. For business owners specifically, the same announcement frames succession planning as protecting the company the owner spent years building.
Indiana residents can reach the firm’s Muncie office at (765) 288-8950 or the Carmel office at (317) 789-8988 to schedule a consultation. The 2026 push is the firm’s stated effort to move those decisions forward while families still have time, clarity and options. More detail is on the firm’s estate planning practice page, which describes how the work proceeds once a client engages. The firm’s announcement does not name the specific attorney whose words are quoted under the title “DWAPC Estate Planning Attorney.”
What the Numbers Show for Indiana
Indiana sits inside the Silver Tsunami of Boomer business ownership transitions, a pattern state analysts have been tracking for more than a year. Baby Boomers own approximately 41% of all privately held businesses in America, according to boomer business ownership and retirement pace analysis. By 2030 every member of the generation will have crossed the traditional retirement threshold of 65, the same source reports. The pace of Boomer retirements has accelerated sharply: roughly 7,400 Boomers a day crossed 65 in 2024, around 8,300 a day in 2025, and an estimated 9,000 a day now in 2026. The wave is on track to peak at a projected 10,000 a day by 2030, per sources the analysis cites, including the IBBA, Forbes and Cornerstone Business Services’ 2025 National Study.
A 2020 Census Bureau survey cited by Northwest Indiana Business Magazine found 51% of small- and medium-sized businesses are owned by people 55 and older. Applied to Indiana, that figure translates to nearly 300,000 owners nearing an exit. These businesses account for about 45% of total employment statewide, the same source reports, climbing to nearly 85% in rural areas.
Readiness lags intent. Nearly half of Boomer business owners say they want to be out within three years, Cornerstone’s 2025 National Study of 750 owners found, yet fewer than one in three has a succession or exit plan in place. The Indiana Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, created in 2025 by Gov. Mike Braun, runs the state’s Keep IN business succession initiative. That program supports family transitions, employee ownership models such as ESOPs and sales to individual buyers through acquisition marketplaces.
- ~9,000 Boomers reach retirement age each day in 2026, on the way to a projected 10,000-a-day peak by 2030 (IBBA, Forbes, Cornerstone 2025 National Study).
- 41% of all privately held businesses in America are Boomer-owned.
- ~300,000 Indiana small and medium business owners are nearing an exit, citing a 2020 Census Bureau survey.
- 45% of total Indiana employment sits at those businesses statewide, climbing to nearly 85% in rural areas.
- Fewer than 1 in 3 Boomer owners has a succession or exit plan in place.
The Building Blocks of an Estate Plan
Estate planning is the personal side of the work. The Dennis, Wenger & Abrell announcement frames it as covering wills, trusts, health care representative designations, living wills, durable powers of attorney and beneficiary reviews. The firm’s estate planning practice page goes further, listing tax minimization, inheritance maximization, inheritance equalization, business continuity and relative tolerance for risk or complexity as concerns it counsels clients on.
- Wills specifying how property is distributed and naming an executor.
- Trusts for control of assets during life and after death, and for tax and inheritance planning.
- Health care representative designations and living wills for medical decisions.
- Durable powers of attorney for financial decisions when the client cannot act.
- Beneficiary reviews on retirement accounts, life insurance and transfer-on-death registrations.
The firm’s announcement frames the practical purpose plainly: a current estate plan clarifies who has authority to make medical or financial decisions, how property should be distributed and how loved ones should be protected. It is also the document set that determines how much federal and state estate, gift and inheritance tax an Indiana family ultimately pays.
On its estate planning practice page, the firm notes that its services continue after a client’s death. The firm assists the executor in settling the estate according to the plan, from initiating probate and opening the estate through filing necessary tax returns. It also helps make final distributions to beneficiaries and trusts. The same page lists specific tasks the estate planning team handles, including accounting for property interests as assets of the estate, assisting in the valuation of those assets, evaluating cash needs of the estate for payment of claims, expenses and taxes, and counseling for orderly payment of claims and disposition of assets.
The firm’s announcement closes on the framing that estate planning is about protecting people before a crisis. The 2026 push is its stated effort to move those decisions forward while families still have time, clarity and options. For Hoosier families with multi-state property or blended families, the document set matters at filing time. The same practice page notes that the firm’s professionals work closely with investment advisors, accountants, pension consultants, life underwriters and banking representatives to develop a comprehensive estate plan. The aim, the firm says, is to maximize the transfer of family wealth while minimizing any tax burden, both state and federal.
Why Succession Planning Is a Separate Project
Succession planning is the business counterpart. The firm’s announcement lists the core documents: buy-sell agreements, ownership transfer plans, business continuity strategies and coordination between business documents and the owner’s personal estate plan. Each piece addresses a different risk, from the death or disability of a partner to a sudden sale offer.
- Buy-sell agreements defining what happens when an owner dies, becomes disabled or exits.
- Ownership transfer plans for moving equity to family members, partners, employees or outside buyers.
- Business continuity strategies so the operation survives an ownership change without losing customers or staff.
- Coordination between business and personal estate documents so tax and inheritance consequences do not collide.
“Small business owners are often focused on day-to-day operations, but succession planning is part of protecting the company they spent years building,” an attorney at the firm said in the firm’s announcement. “A written plan can help preserve family ownership, support continuity and reduce uncertainty for everyone involved.” For Indiana specifically, the work has moved beyond private law firms into state policy. The Indiana Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation runs the state’s Keep IN business succession initiative, supporting family transitions, employee ownership models such as ESOPs and sales to individual buyers through acquisition marketplaces. Northwest Indiana Business Magazine reports that the program includes a regional pilot project in Northwest Indiana in partnership with SMB.co.
On its practice page, the firm lists concerns it counsels clients on for businesses, including retention of control, tax minimization, inheritance maximization, inheritance equalization, business continuity and relative tolerance for risk or complexity. The page also references review of family business issues such as buy-sell agreements and other business continuation alternatives for preservation of family ownership and control of the family business.
The Indiana Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation’s reporting frames the risk in state terms: businesses that close take jobs, decision-making and long-term value out of local communities. The state’s base-case planning assumption, drawn from a February 2026 McKinsey report, is that most small and midsize business exits end in closure without preparation. For owners weighing how their business documents interact with personal family decisions, related coverage of family enterprise breakdowns is available elsewhere on this site. The owner side of the same Boomer wave is the focus of separate reporting on what most small business succession plans miss in 2026.
For Hoosier business owners, the practical question is whether their documents reflect today’s structure.
The Cost of Waiting for a Crisis
Without preparation, 92% of small businesses close rather than transfer, according to a February 2026 McKinsey report cited by Northwest Indiana Business Magazine. The same McKinsey finding anchors a base-case scenario in an Indiana Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation analysis of small and midsize business exits. The mechanics behind the closure rate are familiar to anyone who has watched a sale process fall apart midstream. Owners who rely on rules of thumb or informal estimates often end up selling for less than a well-run process would have produced, the Westlake Securities analysis notes. Buyers price in the risk of a business that cannot operate without its founder, and getting ahead of that takes years, not months.
Indiana-specific data points the same direction. The state has 300,000 business owners nearing an exit, and those businesses account for about 45% of total statewide employment, per Northwest Indiana Business Magazine. Closing those businesses removes jobs, decision-making and long-term value from local communities, the same source warns.
Estate planning is really about protecting people before they are in a crisis.
That is the framing an attorney at Dennis, Wenger & Abrell put forward in the firm’s announcement, and it is the framing national data supports. National research puts the share of small business owners with a formal exit plan at less than one-third, leaving most owners exposed to the closure rate cited earlier in the McKinsey analysis. The firm’s recommendation, in plain language, is to make those decisions while everyone has time, clarity and options, rather than at the moment a death, disability or sale forces the conversation. Indiana has both state-level programs and private counsel engaged on the same problem, and the McKinsey closure rate is the figure both camps are working against.
When Indiana Residents Should Update Their Plans
Dennis, Wenger & Abrell is not arguing that Hoosiers draft new documents every year. It is arguing that certain life events should always trigger a review, including marriage, divorce, remarriage, the birth of a child, the death of a spouse or beneficiary, the purchase or sale of real estate, retirement, business ownership changes or significant changes in health. Beyond those triggers, periodic reviews matter because documents drafted years ago often no longer match current goals. For owners, the state’s Keep IN initiative and the SMB.co regional pilot offer entry points short of a full legal engagement.
- Marriage, divorce or remarriage changes who is in the family and who has claim on the estate.
- Birth or adoption of a child adds a new beneficiary class and a new generation to plan for.
- Death of a spouse or beneficiary can void parts of a will or trust that named them.
- Purchase or sale of real estate changes the asset mix a plan covers.
- Retirement or change in business ownership reshapes income, valuation and successor roles.
- Significant changes in health for the owner or a close family member can shift who needs authority to act.
For owners thinking about exit on a longer horizon, related reading on the broader seller side of the Boomer wave sits at what most small business succession plans miss in 2026. For owners weighing how business documents interact with personal family decisions, related coverage sits at how family enterprises prepare for relationship breakdowns. Indiana residents can schedule a consultation through the firm, with offices in Muncie and Carmel. The 2026 push is the firm’s stated effort to move decisions forward while families still have time, clarity and options.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does estate planning include for Indiana families?
Estate planning typically covers wills, trusts, durable powers of attorney, health care representative designations, living wills and beneficiary reviews in Indiana, an Indiana law firm says. These documents specify who has authority to make medical or financial decisions, how property is distributed and how loved ones are protected.
How is succession planning different from estate planning?
Estate planning centers on personal assets and family distribution. Succession planning focuses on the business itself, including buy-sell agreements, ownership transfer plans, business continuity strategies and coordination between business documents and the owner’s personal estate plan.
Why is succession planning urgent for Indiana business owners in 2026?
Indiana has roughly 300,000 business owners nearing an exit, and these businesses account for about 45% of total statewide employment. Under one-third of Boomer business owners nationally has a formal succession plan, and a February 2026 McKinsey report says 92% of exits without preparation end in closure.
How often should estate and succession documents be reviewed?
Plan reviews should follow major family or business changes, from marriage and the birth of a child to the death of a beneficiary, a real estate purchase or sale, retirement, or a change in business ownership. The trigger events named by Indiana estate planning counsel also include divorce, remarriage and significant changes in health. Periodic reviews, separate from any trigger, also keep documents aligned with current goals.
What is the risk of waiting until a crisis to plan?
Without a written plan, exits tend to be reactive and undervalued, and most close rather than transfer to new owners. That risk lands on families, employees and the local communities that depend on those jobs and tax bases.
Disclaimer: This article is informational only and not legal advice. Estate and succession planning carry specific legal and tax consequences; consult a qualified Indiana attorney before acting. Figures and references are accurate as of publication.
