Legacy Planning

You’ve worked hard to build your wealth. Have you protected it?

A professional couple had successfully built both a business and personal investment portfolio. Their next concern as protecting those assets for their children while managing future tax implications.

Together with both legal team, we developed a trust structure designed to support their long-term succession planning. The strategy included transferring both business assets and selected personal assets into the appropriate ownership structure.

Transfers of this nature can trigger several taxes, including Capital Gains Tax, Transfer Duty, Donations Tax and other potential tax consequences depending on the facts.

Careful planning requires consideration of various provisions of the Income Tax Act 58 of 1962, Including those governing capital gains tax, asset-for-share transactions here applicable, and trust taxation. Depending on the assets involved, provisions of the Transfer Duty Act and Estate Duty Act may also become relevant.

No two families require the same solution. The value lies in designing the correct structure before transactions occur rather than attempting to resolve costly tax consequences afterwards.

If you are accumulating wealth, succession and tax planning should begin long before retirement.