Organising the transmission of your wealth while protecting your loved ones

The situation

Our support

1. 01

   Establishing an overall transmission strategy

   We carried out an analysis of her family and wealth situation in order to identify:

   • the people she wished to protect or favour;
   • the assets she could transmit immediately;
   • those she wished to keep managing or whose income she wished to keep;
   • the gifts already made;
   • the rights of the spouse and the children in her future succession.

   We then compared several scenarios of immediate or gradual transmission.

   Point of attention. Transmission is not only about reducing future duties. It requires striking a balance between the donor’s needs, the protection of the spouse and the respective situations of the beneficiaries.
2. 02

   Beginning to transmit during your lifetime

   We studied making gifts to the children and grandchildren, using the available allowances and taking earlier gifts into account.

   Simplified example: each parent may transmit to each of their children up to €100,000, benefiting from the allowance provided by article 779 of the CGI, subject in particular to gifts made over the preceding fifteen years.

   For certain assets, we favoured a gift of the bare ownership, valued under the scale of article 669 of the CGI. This solution made it possible to begin the transmission while leaving the client the usufruct of the assets and, depending on their nature, their income.

   Simplified example: where the bare ownership represents 60% of the full ownership for tax purposes, the gift of the bare ownership of an asset valued at €1 million is calculated on a value of €600,000, before applying the allowances and the duty scale.
3. 03

   Organising the protection of the spouse

   We analysed the rights the spouse would have on death and the ways to strengthen their protection.

   Several solutions were studied depending on the nature of the assets and the couple’s needs:

   • a gift between spouses;
   • an adjustment of the matrimonial regime;
   • retention of the usufruct on certain assets;
   • organisation of the rights over the main home;
   • adaptation of the testamentary provisions.

   Our approach aimed to protect the spouse without undermining the balance sought between the children or depriving the client of her freedom to manage.

   Point of attention. Protection of the spouse must be thought through together with transmission to the children: a suitable mechanism taken in isolation can produce unintended effects when combined with the other provisions.
4. 04

   Adapting the transmission of financial assets

   We then reviewed the life-insurance contracts and the other financial investments in order to integrate them into the overall strategy.

   Our work covered, in particular:

   • the allocation among beneficiaries;
   • the drafting of the beneficiary clauses;
   • the interaction with the gifts already made;
   • coordination with the testamentary provisions;
   • keeping savings available for the client.

   Simplified example: for life-insurance premiums paid before the age of 70, each beneficiary may, subject to the applicable conditions, benefit from a specific €152,500 allowance on the capital transmitted.

   Life insurance thus appears as one component of the strategy, and not as the main subject of the case.

5. 05

   Coordinating the various mechanisms

   Finally, we set out a roadmap specifying:

   • the gifts to be made immediately;
   • the assets to be transmitted in full or in bare ownership;
   • the provisions intended to protect the spouse;
   • the beneficiary clauses to be amended;
   • the deeds to be prepared with the notaire;
   • the points to review regularly as the family and the wealth evolve.