The firm’s Estate Planning department aims to help clients plan the transfer of their assets to their heirs while they are alive, considering particular aspects of the family, such as the profile of the heirs and their marital status and, if applicable, the marital regime chosen in each marriage or common-law marriage, the type of existing assets and, and, mainly, the will of the property owner to divide the assets.
As a result, we will have: (i) protection of the family from the typical problems in an inventory process, avoiding fights, delays, and high costs; (ii) care for the family assets, accumulated over a lifetime, including the maintenance of control over the assets by the ascendant through the lifetime usufruct; (iii) protection of the heirs so they can have their inheritance with greater tranquility and exclusivity as possible; (iv) the preservation of property among family members, observing the legal limits, avoiding the transfer of assets to non-consanguineous third parties, when so desired by the client.
Through our consulting service, we will work to understand the client and the family, presenting actions that produce the anticipation of the inheritance to the descendants, thus carrying out the distribution of assets during the client’s lifetime, or at least the drafting of the last will through a will (services described below):
- Detailed study of family assets in order to identify alternatives for Estate Planning for individuals, estimating operating costs and corresponding taxes; meeting with the property owners and their heirs, in order to define and implement the Plan, adapting it to the family’s wishes and peculiarities;
- Assistance on property and rights donation contracts, considering family, tax, and corporate aspects. Analysis of possible tax benefits among the existing alternatives (mainly under the Income Tax);
- Our solutions may involve the creation of holding companies to hold equity, which will depend on our prior analysis of the composition of equity and the best method for transferring the different assets, especially from a tax point of view; guidance on the tax effects on individuals and legal entities arising from succession planning;
- Regularizations in order to avoid future conflicts over equity. For example, the formalization of ascendant or descendant relationships (dating, common-law marriage, marriage) with the choice of property system, when applicable; the compensation of donations already made between heirs or the definition that there should be no compensation; the drafting of family agreements to expose particular situations and the will of the property owner; separation of private equity from the risks of the family business;
- We provide information about the order of Succession in Brazil, including aspects related to Tax on Causa Mortis Transmission and Donation – ITCMD (issues involving assets abroad and others);
- Definitive Exit: assistance for clients who leave the country and want to leave their succession organized in relation to assets in Brazil, always with a lawyer based in the location of the client’s new residence, with extensive knowledge on the tax and inheritance laws of the new country of residence;
- Assistance in writing a Legal and Holographic Will – documents that are valid after the death or in case of certain illnesses. Through a Legal or Holographic Will, for example, it is possible to determine to whom you wish to transfer 50% (fifty percent) of your inheritance, and/or indicate the assets that should make up the hereditary division, to the extent permitted by law, among other last will provisions. Through the Advance Healthcare Directives it is possible to write down your wish to undergo or not to certain healthcare treatments, in cases of serious illnesses and patient’s inability to express his will (the document must be written by a trusted doctor);
- Organization of a “succession folder”, containing all documents and information that the descendants, heirs, and/or legatees will need to have access to when the ascendant die, relating to their assets, as well as additional contact information of the professionals who currently help the ascendant in the financial and legal matters, avoiding any type of unforeseen and/or difficulties on the part of the heirs in the moment of the loss of a loved one.
