A death in the family may have major consequences. Relatives may quarrel if the deceased has not established a clear succession plan. Family unity may be endangered by suits for legal portions of the inheritance, difficulties in splitting up the inheritance or liquidity shortages due to inheritance tax payments.
For these reasons, it makes sense to think carefully about how the fortune should be transferred to the next generation and to draw on specialist knowledge. Our experienced wealth and succession management experts and our network of legal and tax advisors will help you to develop a suitable strategy to pass on your wealth down to future generations. Your personal goals and wishes as well as the structure of your family will serve as a guideline for our suitable proposals.
In order to secure your life’s achievements for future generations we will help you to implement your personal wishes for leaving your fortune to your heirs. In our role as experienced succession planners and neutral executors we can help to ensure family peace and support inexperienced heirs.
You obviously wish to protect your fortune in the long run. In practice, however, claims by third parties may often reduce your wealth. This is something many people are not aware of. Thus, the first and most important step of our asset protection advice is to identify potential risks to your fortune. For example, your entrepreneurial activities or your work as a board member of a company may expose you to liability claims. Preventive action will help to protect your fortune in the long run.
There are basically two asset protection approaches. The first of them will take away the assets (liability pool) from the initial owner and transfer them to another family member or a (family) foundation.
The goal is to secure the economic benefits of the fortune and its returns for the former owner.
The second approach will let the owner keep their fortune; however, it is more difficult to implement.
The optimal preventive measures will depend on your individual situation.
You want to create a legally binding framework for your fortune, protect your company against being split up and do something for the community. Why not put your fortune into a foundation? Non-profit foundations, turnover foundations, family foundations, corporate foundations have a long tradition in the form of legally capable foundations under civil law or as trust foundations.
We can rely on a long experience in the establishment and management of foundations and will be happy to put our expertise at your disposal. Selecting a foundation’s legal form, giving it a strategic direction and taking decisions on its capital are the most important decisions when it comes to establishing a foundation. In principle, foundations exist forever, and any mistakes made at the time of their establishment are difficult to fix. We will advise you during the whole procedure, from the initial plans to hammering out the structural details and establishing your own foundation.
The foundation’s management will lead to additional challenges, both for you as the founder and for the foundation’s boards. Most foundations aim to protect and increase their capital. Our asset management division is responsible for significant assets held by foundations and can rely on the expertise drawn from the establishment and management of our proprietary foundation funds. A foundation requires comprehensive and targeted wealth management. In addition, the daily running of a foundation is time-consuming and often cumbersome for the board members. Annual reports, correspondence with the regulatory authorities and data protection are only a few of the thorny issues related to running a foundation. We will take care of these numerous administrative issues for you and ensure transparency and security for your foundation in its everyday business.