Our clients, a married couple in their late 60s, wished to start passing ownership of their successful family business to their children during their lifetimes to avoid potential disputes after their deaths.
While they were happy to hand over control, they wanted to retain some influence to help guide the company when needed. Their priority was ensuring the process was completed in the most tax-efficient way possible.
The clients were concerned that, even with clear wills, future disputes over ownership could arise. They wanted to transfer ownership to their children now while maintaining a role to support the business where appropriate.
Additionally, the company wished to incentivise certain existing shareholders by enhancing their share rights.
We provided detailed advice on reorganising the company’s share capital. This involved a combination of share buybacks, gifts, and new share issues - all carefully structured to maximise available tax reliefs and minimise exposure to IHT, CGT, IT and CT.
We outlined a clear, step-by-step plan for implementation, worked closely with the clients’ solicitors, and advised on creating a Non-Executive Director (NED) role to preserve the clients’ influence where needed.
The clients successfully transferred control to their children in a fully tax-efficient manner while retaining an appropriate NED role.
They gained complete clarity on the tax implications and confidence in the robustness of the structure. Key employees were also incentivised through enhanced share rights.
The project was delivered successfully, with close coordination between advisers to ensure all compliance and legal requirements were met.
