In this latest episode, we look at estate planning.

Our expert advises you on how to define your needs and priorities, which is essential for reaching your goals and securing the future of your family and loved ones.

Plan for your peace of mind

People are often reluctant to discuss the transfer of their assets and inheritance matters. To make things easier, it can be helpful to see estate planning as a major to ensure your peace of mind for the years to come, as well as to secure your future and that of your family or dependents. Drawing up a will can be very simple or very complicated if you have assets spread over several jurisdictions, which can be a source of tension between siblings.

Each case is unique, and asset protection strategies are designed to cover all types of scenarios and individual situations, from extended and reconstituted families to individuals without families.

A real estate purchase, one of the many opportunities to plan for your estate

For example, one of our clients, a Luxembourg resident, has just bought a second home in France. He wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to create a proper estate plan, so we recommended creating an SCI, a property investment company. As a Luxembourg resident of French nationality, his property will thus be passed on to his only son, who will become the sole owner.

A step-by-step plan

We establish a customised asset protection plan by carefully examining your individual and financial situation, which includes your real estate holdings and bank accounts in Luxembourg in the simplest case, or your asset portfolio and financial interests worldwide in more complex scenarios.

If you want to set up an effective asset protection structure, capable of ensuring the future of your heirs and beneficiaries, you may have to juggle a whole arsenal of international laws. In this kind of situation, you need to seek the advice of experts in order to determine solutions that are compliant, reliable and transferable.

This comprehensive asset analysis is the basis for everything that follows and is essential for establishing a professional relationship based on trust. Your private banker will first determine your needs and goals in order to identify and understand how the family is structured, so as to offer the best possible support. The goal is to provide every member of the family with peace of mind. Once we have a clear vision of your estate and how you want it to be passed on at your death, we call upon the expertise of our Wealth Planners.

The BIL Wealth Planning expertise

Our Wealth Planners are available to answer any questions you have raised with your private bankers. Using their vast expertise, we can develop customised solutions. The advice they provide covers fields as diverse as tax planning, life insurance and loans, to name but a few.

When you know that your estate planning is being managed by a team of experts working hand-in-hand with your private banker, it is allowing you to be even more confident regarding the recommendations you receive. One of the points we emphasise is that estate planning is a flexible process that can and should be adapted to changing circumstances.

Benefit from structured solutions whatever your situation

Clients with significant global assets are just one example. Establishing an effective estate structure can be as simple as it can be complex, depending on your needs.

Let’s take the example of reconstituted families, comprising children from different marriages or relationships. It is not easy to precisely determine how to divide up the family estate among the next generation without creating long legal battles in the future. In addition, if the children live in different countries, different inheritance rules may apply. Perhaps stepchildren need to be considered as well. The head of the family may also wish to establish a foundation or support a charity in their name, possibly allocating a significant portion of their assets to this purpose. With an estate plan, their expectations will be met.

The key to successful estate planning is ensuring that it is flexible enough to deal with all types of changing circumstances.

Contact our private bankers for more information on establishing an estate plan.