Inheritance and succession

Are you a businessperson, shareholder, board member or private person looking to plan the succession of your business or assets in your best interests? Then we are the people to talk to. We advise and plan succession so that it is optimised for tax, is strategically arranged nationally and internationally, matches what you have in mind, and preserves your life’s work from one generation to the next.

Are you part of a family business or do you have private equity? Our tax advice works to preserve your assets and takes every opportunity to avoid and reduce inheritance and gift tax. We will take on filing gift and inheritance tax returns and valuing business assets and real estate under the German Valuation Act (Bewertungsgesetz). 

A foundation (Stiftung) can be an excellent means of establishing the assets of natural persons or businesses for the long-term and protecting their substance. We will create and develop a plan, set up foundations (family foundations and non-profit foundations) and give you advice on the non-profit law that governs them. 

We will advise you on planning succession internationally, taking foreign involvements into account. Particularly when businesses are at stake, we employ our competence in company law to protect your interests for the long-term. We set up family companies and draft or review the articles of association. We provide advice on the law governing marital property regimes, nationally and internationally. We are a member firm of Grant Thornton International Ltd – our experts across the world make sure that your succession arrangements are legally watertight and as safe as possible, including internationally.  

We will strategically draw up your testament, contracts of inheritance and agreements on waiving compulsory portions (Pflichtanteile), according to your will. In this way we can keep the inheritance tax burden and any claims to a compulsory portion low or avoid them altogether, thus making liquidity requirements predictable.

The administration of estates not infrequently takes an emotional turn and may even end in a legal dispute. We offer cross-border assistance with settlement among communities of heirs, act to de-escalate, secure your claims and thus protect you from any loss of assets caused by unnecessary and obstructive legal disputes. If it comes to it, we will assist with legal proceedings concerning the inheritance or with compulsory portions.

We also advise executors and take on all the formalities that the domestic or international administration of estates brings with it. 

We’ll put together an “emergency kit” for you, which as well as your will also includes a lasting power of attorney, emergency representation authorisation and healthcare power of attorney. In legal planning for family matters, we draft pre-nuptial agreements and adapt existing articles of incorporation to match your desired succession plans. 

We help natural persons move domicile and give comprehensive assistance on protecting your assets from liability. We’ll show you all the options you have to protect your assets from creditors, those entitled to a compulsory portion and ex-spouses, as well as from geopolitical risks.