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Every company, every family is unique and special. When it comes to safeguarding the work of one’s lifetime, a well-planned transfer to successors in due course is essential.

A change of generations in a family-run business or the unbundling of assets are very complex challenges. We assist companies and high-net-worth private individuals in structuring their assets and designing individual succession solutions. In doing so, we combine our expertise at the interface of corporate law, foundation law, tax law, inheritance law and mediation.

For us, the focus is on ensuring that accumulated assets - the result of outstanding entrepreneurial performance and family cohesion - can be preserved over generations.

Apart from economic and strategic thinking, we also bring in an understanding of entrepreneurial and family interests (corporate culture, traditions, special goals) as well as the required prudence and empathy.

This enables us to create individual, tailor-made solutions for you and provide the required integrated advice. It is important to us to ensure the continuity, survivability and adaptability of your business and to preserve both intangible and tangible assets. The aim is to avoid conflicts and to ensure the long-term protection of family assets and peace in the family.

For successful succession - inter vivos or causa mortis - the drafting of contracts and documentation with foresight plays a very important role. We will be happy to serve as your experienced advisor and companion in this respect, assisting with appropriate agreements among shareholders, articles of association, deeds of foundation, family and company agreements, succession planning under corporate and inheritance law, including company sales, gifts, business leases or reorganizations upstream of succession in a company, etc. – right up to personal risk provisioning measures.

A successful generational change requires a thorough analysis and definition of the legal, tax and, above all, family goals in a cooperative approach. This way, potential problems can be anticipated and avoided, and goals can be coordinated with all parties involved. Our team includes lawyers as well as tax advisors with excellent training. This enables us to bring to you the best tailor-made solutions from a single source and achieve an optimum result in cooperation with you.

In the course of succession planning, existing company and asset structures or "family governance" (ownership structures) can be analyzed and approaches for improvements can be identified. This way, your company will continue to be managed in a future-oriented manner, and optimum results and solutions supported by all parties involved can be found.

The process of company succession planning is often stressful and emotionally charged. For this reason, we also offer support through professional mediation in order to identify positions and points of contention as early as possible and to take appropriate countermeasures - thus minimizing the level of stress for all persons involved.

International aspects often have to be taken into account and legally safeguarded in succession planning or asset unbundling. In this respect we will support you conscientiously and we can draw on first-class international lawyer networks when it comes to reconciling different jurisdictions in succession planning.

It is not uncommon for shareholder disputes to paralyze a company for a long period of time, thus leading to distress in operations as well as strategic crisis, which in the worst case may end in the insolvency of the company and disrupted family ties. We will support you in all kinds of disputes while keeping an eye on peace in the family and a structured handover.

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