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Small family businesses differ from non-family businesses in that their functioning is not independent of the life cycle of the owner-operator, and in that other family considerations sometimes lead to sub-optimal managerial decisions from the point of view of the business. This is why a smooth intergenerational succession is essential to the profitability of the business, and to the welfare of the family as a whole. Succession within the family involves first of all the choice of a successor. The choice is affected by birth order, age differentials, and qualifications of potential successors. Choosing a successor means reaching an agreement about the timing of succession and income distribution before and after succession. This paper focuses on the decision of the business-operating family when to bring in the designated successor. A utility-maximizing time is shown to differ from the income-maximizing time only in …