The group provides creative advice on personal wealth preservation and transition structures, health care strategies in the event of incapacity, and transition planning for privately owned businesses.
Preservation, protection and transition of personal wealth or business assets can encompass a variety of practice areas and Lawson Lundell is well positioned to provide the necessary corporate, real estate and tax advice required to create and implement solutions that will suit a client’s needs and ensure that their intentions are met.
With strong cross-border capabilities, and our affiliated global law firm association, the group regularly collaborates with international advisors, including U.S. legal and tax specialists to support Canadian clients with U.S.-based assets and American clients with Canadian holdings. This expertise, supported by a team of in-house tax lawyers, ensures that personal and business transition plans are structured to address complex international considerations effectively.
We assist clients in the creation and administration of trusts to achieve tax efficiency and to support business and family planning goals, including balancing the interests of blended families.
We are well versed in creative life insurance products, and we identify issues and liaise with knowledgeable and client-focused agents to implement insurance planning, where appropriate.
The group also advises on business transition planning for privately owned businesses, assisting with the design and implementation of specialized corporate structures, tax-deferred reorganizations, the tax-efficient use of insurance, and shareholder agreements. Whether a client’s strategy involves retaining control, transitioning ownership to the next generation, transferring ownership to key employees, or preparing for a third-party sale, plans are structured to meet client objectives while maintaining flexibility to adapt to future changes in business needs, tax status, or family circumstances.
Death is inevitable and at the time of someone’s passing, we can assist clients and their families with all aspects of administering the transfer of wealth, whether arising as an estate under a will or direct transfers through an inter vivos trust, and whether a grant of probate or grant of administration is necessary or not.
We assist in all areas of legal work to preserve, protect and transition clients’ wealth and to address their health care concerns, including:
- Designing and implementing a wide range of trust structures, including family trusts, joint partner trusts, alter ego trusts, disability trusts, and testamentary trusts, as tax-efficient, protection, control or transition tools for client’s assets.
- Sophisticated insurance-based planning strategies.
- Designing and implementing probate fee and probate avoidance planning.
- Structuring clients’ business interests in a tax-efficient manner or to implement an effective transition of their business interests.
- Preparing wills and using inter vivos trusts, as alternative estate planning solutions.
- Preparing powers of attorney and agreements on health care decisions, as proactive incapacity planning solutions.
- Filing for and obtaining grants of probate and other grants of administration for estates.
- Assisting estate trustees in their administration of estates.
- Post-mortem tax planning.
- Jurisdictional issues / cross-border and international estates.