Family Business Succession

A family business usually passes to the next generation in two ways at once — ownership and management — and the two do not have to go to the same people. Deciding that in advance avoids a dispute at the worst moment.

Wise Counsel advises families on transferring a business to the next generation, covering ownership, governance, tax and the arrangements for family members who are not involved in running it.

What we help with

• Advising on separating ownership from management in the succession plan
• Structuring the transfer of shares or capital contribution to the next generation
• Advising on the tax treatment of transfers between family members
• Governance arrangements protecting family members who do not work in the business
• Drafting family agreements, charters and shareholder arrangements
• Advising on what happens if a successor leaves, divorces or dies
• Coordinating the succession plan with wills and estate planning
• Advising on the transition where the founder retains a role

The hardest question is usually not who runs the business, but how the family members who do not are treated fairly. That is the part worth planning first.