Upon the death of an independent OPTAVIA Coach (“Coach”), his or her business may be passed to his or her adult heirs (an heir must be 18 years or older to take over a Coaching business). As a result, the Coach may wish to consult with an attorney to assist him or her in the preparation of a will or other testamentary instrument to handle the disposition of his or her Coaching business after his or her passing.
Without a will or other testamentary document, upon the death of a Coach, the rights and responsibilities of the Coach’s OPTAVIA business remain with the spouse, provided that the spouse has previously been added as a co-applicant in OPTAVIA Connect. If there is no co-applicant spouse on the applicable Coach business, the Coach business will be transferred to the rightful heir(s), trustee(s), guardian(s), or conservator(s) (collectively, “Successor Coach”) as outlined in the deceased Coach’s testamentary instrument (i.e. a Will).
In order for the Company to transfer an independent OPTAVIA Coach business to a Successor Coach, the following must be provided to the Company (via an email to compliance@OPTAVIA.com):
- A copy of the deceased Coach’s death certificate;
- A certified copy of the will or other testamentary instrument establishing the Successor Coach’s right to the business;
- If the Successor Coach is not an existing Coach, the individual must submit a signed Independent OPTAVIA Coach Agreement to the Company, which the Coach can find here. If the individual is an existing OPTAVIA Coach, the inherited business will be operated as a second business by the Successor Coach and remain in its current position in the line of sponsorship;
- If the business is an entity (corporation, partnership, limited liability company, trust, etc.), the Successor Coach may also be required to complete, sign and submit an amended Business Entity Addendum. A hard copy of the amended Business Entity Addendum signed by all owners of the Business Entity must also be submitted along with the electronic form.
If the Successor Coach does not wish to take over the coaching business, the Successor Coach (after providing items 1-2 above) may cancel the Coach business, which will revert the Coach business to Client status and all Coaches and Clients in the line of sponsorship will “roll up” to the next sponsor. Requests to cancel the coaching business must be sent to renewals@OPTAVIA.com, but may only be sent after providing the company with items 1-2 above.
Please note that all testamentary documentation must be provided to the OPTAVIA Compliance Team at compliance@OPTAVIA.com. In addition, following the death of a Coach, the Company is unable to make any modifications to the Coach business (including any potential transfers of the business) unless and until it has received the appropriate documentation instructing the Company of the rightful heir to the business.