Effective tax management
Families and family offices
The total wealth held by family offices is unknown, due to the private approach taken to invest and manage their capital, but it is estimated to be in the tens of trillions of US$. The scale of activities undertaken by family offices is also very broad, from single family offices focused on the needs of one family's wealth to multi-family offices providing a range of professional services.
Guiding you through the issues
We have been helping successful families since Withers was founded in 1896, and excel in advising on the numerous legal and emotional issues associated with managing, protecting and passing on your wealth. Our extensive experience in working with family offices means we can advise on not just how best to establish and manage your family office, but also where best to geographically situate its operations. The question of location is often a difficult and strategic decision, carrying with it various tax implications. With 17 offices across the US, Asia and Europe, we are here to help you navigate these concerns.
Investment perspectives
We have a dedicated funds, investment and tax team, including lawyers with corporate, tax and trust experience, enabling us to provide targeted investment structuring advice. We work with our clients on the establishment, operation and tax treatment of the full range of investments and collective investment schemes; we can advise clients from the perspective of fund principal and/or manager, as well as that of fund investor.
You may be considering the most appropriate tax efficient structures to hold your assets, such as domestic and international trusts and foundations, private trust companies, or in offshore jurisdictions around the world. We are well placed to point out the potential issues and solutions in each instance and to guide you through the decision making process.
Assembling the right team
An essential part of running an effective family office is finding people with the right skills. We frequently work with family offices on the recruitment of key personnel, including the negotiation of employment agreements, and the development of deferred compensation structures designed to align the interests of the employee with those of the family.
Mitigating risk
Family offices face numerous sources of risk, including investment loss or devaluation, compliance failure, tax investigations or changes of regulations and compliance failures. When you find yourself under investigation from regulators, or needing to launch a law suit against another party, our international dispute resolution team is available to assist on litigation of all sizes.
And finally, we have extensive experience of advising successful international families on protecting their reputation. The international media has never been more fascinated by, and suspicious of, the activities of the wealthy, and our media and reputation team has acted for many years both for and against the media, in cutting-edge cases involving reputation issues, including defamation, malicious falsehood, harassment, privacy and confidentiality.
For further help or information
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Family office first
Solutions for family conflict. Find out more about the solutions we offer to prevent the damage that can flow from litigation, intra-family disputes and criminal activity.
FIND OUT MORECapabilities statement
Find out more about our capabilities representing families and family offices.
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