Estate and succession planning

Securing estate and company succession is one of an entrepreneur's most important tasks. Ultimately, whether a company has been successfully managed depends on whether in the end the estate and succession planning has been organised in good time – and certainly not only after the death of the entrepreneur. Securing the company succession is not only in the entrepreneur's interest and, even if this is overlooked sometimes, perhaps in the company successor's interest, but also has great significance above all for the employees and the banks. Qualified staff can only be retained if the future of the company is secured and can offer them good prospects. For the lending banks, a well-regulated company succession meanwhile represents an increasingly significant criterion for ratings. Even individuals who do not own a business tend to put the subject of their succession on the "back-burner" as well. The social consequences of their not properly regulating their inheritance are generally not as serious as a neglected company succession; sensible and future-orientated succession arrangements are nonetheless extremely important for keeping the family peace.

In the area of estate and succession planning, the key aspects of our activities comprise:

• advice on the fundamental questions of whether and how much of the estate should be conveyed to the successor during the lifetime of the incumbent owner, and whether and how much of the estate should not be passed on until the death of the testator
• the planning and execution of a lifetime transfer of property and accompanying measures
• the drawing up and execution of (accompanying) wills (keyword: emergency planning)
• advice and support in matters of inheritance law including litigation in conflicts relating to inheritance law