We provide legal and tax advice to family-owned businesses, family entrepreneurs, and high-net-worth individuals. We often advise family entrepreneurs on the choice of legal form for their business or holding company as well as on setting up the corporate structure.
In addition to advising our clients on corporate and tax law, we focus on the structure of family business governance, i.e. the interface between the business and its shareholders. Our primary aim is to balance the decision-making power between shareholders and family branches in order to set the course for the long-term success of the business.
We provide structuring advice in the following areas:
- Analyzing the status quo and the long-term aims of the family-owned business
- Based on the findings, we identify structuring and optimization options in terms of tax and corporate law, focusing on family business governance and with a view to avoiding disclosure obligations and co-determination as far as possible.
- In an international context: Advice on cross-border taxation of the family-owned business and internationalization within the shareholder group, including when family members move abroad
For private clients, similar questions arise as for family entrepreneurs, but in relation to other asset classes. For them, it is usually about the proper structuring of real estate assets, agricultural and forestry assets, art, antiques and other valuables, and liquid assets, both in a national and international context.
Where clients exercise an activity that is subject to liability, for example as members of a management board or supervisory board, we also advise them on asset and liability protection.