You may be concerned about who should benefit from your wealth and who’s best to take over the management of your assets, business or family trusts. Succession planning will help you pass on your wealth in an organised way.

Our succession planning advisers work with families based in the UK and abroad, family offices and professional advisers. We’ll help you make and carry out the important decisions that will ensure your wealth and legacy are protected for future generations.

Contact our solicitors today to find out how we can help you. Call us on 0370 1500 100 or send us an email and we’ll call you back.

What Is Succession Planning?

Succession planning helps you decide how best to move your wealth on to future generations. It includes deciding who should benefit from your wealth, when they should benefit and then carrying out those decisions.

Succession planning usually involves making and Will to set out who should inherit your assets. For more complex families and wealth, there can be more steps like creating trusts or family investment companies to protect your wealth. It could also involve appointing professionals to help manage your assets.

Succession planning can help you:

• Manage family expectations of what they’ll inherit
• Educate the next generation on their responsibilities and how to manage a large inheritance
• Minimise inheritance tax on your assets
• Understand and make decisions about how to handle assets in different countries
• Decide how to hand over control of your business and its assets
• Think about putting aside some of your wealth for charity
• Plan for unexpected circumstances, such as losing the mental capacity to handle your own affairs
• Appointing professionals to manage your assets and business interests.

How Can Irwin Mitchell Help with Succession Planning?

Our legal and financial advisers work closely with you to understand your needs and goals. We’ll support you from beginning to end to help you minimise the risk to your legacy.

We can advise on:

• Choosing how to distribute your estate after you die, who can help do this, and ensuring they follow your wishes
• Educating those who’ll benefit from your estate as early as possible
• Business succession and how to pass on your business to the right people or groups
• Setting up or managing long-term trusts to preserve your wealth
• Creating tax efficient family investment companies to protect and grow your family assets
• How to handle your international assets and what legal and tax regulations will apply
• Handing over assets to family members living overseas
• Making charitable donations or setting up a charitable trust.

There isn’t a one size fits all strategy when planning to pass on your wealth. We work with many high net worth individuals and families that have complex relationships and expectations. We’ll help you plan the best way forward by giving you objective and pragmatic advice you can trust while building a long-term relationship with you.

Why Choose Irwin Mitchell?

We have a diverse team of experts that includes lawyers and financial advisers under one roof. We work together to give you tailored advice that best suits your needs for the future.

Succession planning is more than just transferring ownership of your assets. It can include family law, powers of attorney, Wills, international assets, tax and more. You’ll get detailed expertise from our succession planning advisers to help you navigate the complex process, leaving you with a positive experience of planning for the future.

Many of our solicitors are active members of STEP - Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners, and we’re often asked to act as executors and trustees for our clients.

To discuss your needs and wishes, contact us by calling 0370 1500 100 or send us an email and we’ll call you back.