Occasionally, we see a crew leader have to step down from the role of leadership that they were granted due to real life situations that occur. Sometimes the transition can be a bit messy leaving a few people displaced and those who haven't recently logged on in the cross hairs of Someone else's gun. This can also result in a loss of great riches that people have spent loads of time trying to accumulate. 

My suggestion is that the HQ, rather than being sold for 15 million, could be put up for sell and the current Right Hand or whoever is asked to take lead of the same crew in that city can then buy the HQ from the current crew leader. In purchasing the HQ they will now transition into a Bold Suit and take the seat as the current head of that same family. For clarity, the sale of the HQ is to one person specifically and not open to the public. 

Positives The positives of this transition is that the new crew leader does not have to immediately have to work to recruit members. They don't need to build new forts and buy a brand new HQ. The new crew leader would save tens of millions in not having to pay for forts as they would already be in-tact. The new crew leader would only have to pay the former crew leader the asking price of the HQ which would be set by that leader. It appears more life like than what is currently offered. The current crew would be able to stay with the chosen successor of the crew. 

Negatives This could prevent a successor being directly chosen from the godfather of the district/city. Crew could grow disgruntled if they are forced to be in the same crew with someone they did not originally intend to be with resulting in a decrease in loyalty and poor performance. The former crew leader could still be looked at as the true leader of that crew unless it was clear he/she was not. 

Perhaps a Godfather would have to authorize the CL stepping down and selling the HQ instead of the CL making the decision on their own. This would probably solve that negative you suggested.

I think that if a CL retires, there should be 2 options--either the RH/LHM takes over, or the gang disbands. If a CL is outside of the district when killed, forts should be fine. If he's in district, then they have to collapse. Also, if CL dies, RHM should automatically take over, and if he dies, LHM takes over. If the RH/LHM promotes a player to take his hand position once he takes over, then he's in line. Just common sense, I think, and a major game flaw. This game is all about role-play and realness, this is a big part of Mafia life. If a GF dies, the CL under him should take over. Etc etc etc. 

I think that a leader dying/stepping down can be very messy and/or expensive, but I wouldn't want to see this process automated. It's good to keep some challenging parts of the game, especially when they mirror how the actual mafia would seemingly operate.

Obviously, sometimes leaders need to step down or die, but this should remain a potentially difficult thing to do and not something done lightly.

If you plan well and have stockpiled good amounts of cash, this transfer is not a difficult one; you use the money you save up to purchase what you need, and use your strong record-keeping to invite everyone from the previous family.