Based in Geneva, our firm advises its clients on their estate and wealth planning, addressing succession, matrimonial, administrative and tax matters, including their cross-border dimensions.
We assist our clients at every stage of their wealth management, from private client advice to representation before the courts in the event of disputes.
Areas of Expertise
Estate Planning
We advise our clients on their testamentary dispositions and inheritance agreements. We assist heirs with the acquisition of the estate, the assessment of their liability for debts, as well as the division and settlement of the estate. We also assist legatees, in particular foundations, in obtaining the delivery of their legacies.
We advise and assist executors, official administrators and representatives of the estate in the administration of the succession.
Matrimonial Property Planning
We advise our clients on the choice and adaptation of their matrimonial property regime, as well as its liquidation in the event of divorce or death.
Asset Holding Structures & Trusts
We advise our clients on the establishment and administration of asset holding structures — trusts, foundations, companies — according to their wealth protection and succession objectives, taking into account their Swiss tax implications.
Our affiliated Swiss company, Tax Lex Trustee SA, a financial institution authorised by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), is licensed to establish trusts and act as trustee.
Business Transfers
We advise our clients on the transfer of their business, whether through a sale to third parties or an intrafamily transfer. We anticipate the tax implications of these transactions and coordinate the transfer with the client’s overall estate planning.
Immigration & Real Estate Acquisition
We assist our foreign clients in establishing their residence in Switzerland and with the related residence permit procedures, as well as with the acquisition of real estate in Switzerland.
Personal Taxation
We advise our private clients on all aspects of their personal taxation, including the establishment of their Swiss tax domicile, the negotiation of lump-sum taxation (tax based on expenditure), or the determination of their ordinary taxation.
Banking Relations and Compliance
We advise our clients on their relationships with banks and financial institutions, in particular on matters of regulatory compliance, wealth documentation and source-of-funds justification.
Prevention of Estate Disputes
We advise our clients on the drafting of testamentary dispositions and inheritance agreements aimed at limiting the risk of challenge, as well as on seeking amicable solutions between heirs.
Estate Litigation
We represent heirs and legatees before the courts in estate disputes — actions for nullity, reduction, judicial settlement, challenges to testamentary dispositions, and disputes relating to trusts and foundations.
Contact
Thomas Béguin
Attorney-at-law
Certified Specialist SBA Inheritance Law
LL.M Tax
Trust and Estate Practitioner
tb@brhpartners.ch