Family Business & Wealth Planning
Overview
Family business succession and wealth planning involve a wide range of legal considerations, including ownership of family assets, corporate equity and control, corporate culture, family values, and succession goals. We help clients establish customized governance and succession structures through legal frameworks or contractual arrangements that address the specific needs of each family. Trust structures also play a critical role in succession planning. By transferring assets to trustees under a trust agreement, families can better manage the distribution of assets to beneficiaries. Trust agreements may include governance mechanisms such as management committees and trust supervisors to safeguard the trust’s objectives. Through our services, we help clients protect family wealth, implement sustainable governance, and preserve family values for future generations.
Family Governance and Succession Planning
We assist clients in defining their family vision, identifying the scope of assets involved in succession, designing holding structures, planning tax strategies, and developing governance mechanisms. Our services also include succession education, leadership development, and philanthropic planning. We work closely with accounting professionals to turn these plans into actionable governance frameworks tailored to the family’s long-term goals.
Family Business Governance
Family businesses often face the challenge of transitioning from founder-led management to a more institutionalized governance structure. We help clients integrate corporate governance principles into family businesses, aligning family governance with business governance to support long-term succession goals and professional management practices.
Family Member Agreements
Many families hold succession assets in the names of individual family members or their companies. We assist in consolidating these assets while safeguarding the rights of all stakeholders. Our services include drafting family agreements to clarify ownership, reduce disputes, and formalize asset management and succession arrangements.
Will Preparation
While inheritance laws provide default rules for asset distribution, these may not always align with family members’ intentions. We help clients draft valid and enforceable wills that reflect their wishes and comply with legal requirements, ensuring the lawful and effective transfer of family assets.
Trust Planning
Trusts are widely used as succession tools, offering benefits such as asset independence, retained control by the settlor, and protection for designated beneficiaries. While Taiwan’s trust framework is still evolving, recent developments offer new opportunities for families to leverage trusts in succession planning. We help clients design and implement trust arrangements that fit their succession strategies and legal requirements.
Prenuptial and Marital Property Planning
Marriage can significantly impact family asset planning. We assist clients in managing this risk through prenuptial agreements and marital property arrangements. Our services help protect family wealth, reduce potential disputes, and support succession plans, regardless of changes in marital status.
