Private Wealth & Family Business

Advising family branches holding shares in a major industrial group in a dispute over control of the company and its holding structures, through to the negotiation of a settlement ending a long-standing conflict.

Advising the heirs of an entrepreneur in an international succession dispute concerning an estate worth several million euros, drawing on tax, corporate and litigation expertise across several jurisdictions.

Advising in litigation involving a surviving spouse and children from several relationships in a succession dispute over the division of a real estate and financial estate, including challenges to testamentary provisions and prior gifts, and the determination of each party’s rights (forced heirship reserve, disposable portion, rights of the surviving spouse).

Advising on the sale of real estate assets and digital infrastructure held through several corporate structures, involving real estate and corporate tax issues.

Advising a wine-sector business on the structuring of a transfer transaction, in coordination with the notaries and other advisers involved. Our work included filing requests for advance tax rulings with the French tax authorities to secure the application of the Dutreil regime and the reduction of the taxable base of the planned gifts.

Advising private clients seeking to secure a lifelong income for persons with disabilities.

Advising a senior executive and shareholder of a group held through a family holding company in connection with his amicable or contested divorce. Our work included analysing the matrimonial property regime and distinguishing between separate and community property (shares, real estate, financial assets); determining the law applicable to the divorce and the matrimonial property regime where international elements were present; and defining the terms of the division of matrimonial property (allocation or buy-back of shares, equalisation payments, division of other assets), while preserving the continuity and governance of the business.

Passing on a family business involves more than transferring shares from one generation to the next. It requires anticipating how the share capital will be divided, how power will be exercised, how balance will be maintained between family members, and what the legal and tax consequences of the transaction will be.

De Gaulle Fleurance advises business owners and shareholding families on structuring these transfers, taking into account how the companies and holding companies are organised, their governance, relationships between shareholders and the family’s wealth objectives. Where the conditions are met, the Dutreil regime may form part of this analysis. Cross-generational gifts which include grandchildren can also help optimise the terms of the transfer.

The aim is to design a structure consistent with the family’s business and personal objectives, reconciling the interests of the generation passing on the business, the generation taking it over, and family members who are not intended to be directly involved in running the company.

The sale of a business is often a major turning point in how an entrepreneur’s wealth is organised. Wealth that was previously concentrated largely in the shares of a single company may become more diversified, combining financial assets, real estate, new shareholdings and investments.

Anticipating this change requires a joint review of the business’s holding structure, the tax implications of the transaction, reinvestment plans, the owner’s family situation and his or her succession objectives, including the use of pre-sale gifts.

De Gaulle Fleurance advises entrepreneurs on this overall strategy, combining corporate law, tax and wealth structuring, both ahead of the transaction and in organising the resulting assets and investments.

Over the generations, the shareholders of a family business may include members whose circumstances and objectives differ. Some are involved in managing the company, while others are essentially shareholders; some branches wish to keep their holdings, while others may wish to take a different direction.

Governance must make it possible to manage these balances and to align the company’s operating rules with those governing the family’s ownership of its share capital.

De Gaulle Fleurance advises shareholding families on structuring their companies and holding companies, organising their governance and managing their relationships as shareholders. Our experience of disputes between shareholders and family branches enables us to anticipate, at an early stage, situations that could escalate into conflict.

Wealth made up of different asset classes and spread across several countries requires a comprehensive approach. The way companies, shareholdings, real estate and financial investments are held interacts with issues of tax, governance, family situation and succession.

The involvement of several jurisdictions adds a further dimension: the organisation of the wealth must take into account the rules applicable to each of the assets and structures concerned, and how those rules interact.

De Gaulle Fleurance advises entrepreneurs, investors, families and family offices on these issues, drawing in a coordinated way on its expertise in corporate law, tax, real estate, notarial law and, where necessary, litigation.

An international succession may involve several legal and tax systems at once, particularly where the heirs, companies, shareholdings or real estate concerned have connections with different countries.

The situation can be particularly complex where the estate includes businesses or holding companies whose ownership, governance and operations must be taken into account alongside the succession issues.

De Gaulle Fleurance advises on international successions involving complex estates, combining private wealth law, tax, corporate law and litigation. The aim is to address the various dimensions of the succession and the specific issues of each jurisdiction concerned in a coordinated way.

The international mobility of an entrepreneur, senior executive or family can affect the legal and tax environment of their assets, companies, investments and succession plans.

Its consequences should therefore be assessed not only in terms of the individual’s personal situation, but also across their entire wealth structure: business shareholdings, holding companies, real estate, financial investments, family situation and future succession.

De Gaulle Fleurance advises entrepreneurs, investors and families with interests in several countries, helping them anticipate these interactions and place the organisation of their wealth within a comprehensive, international approach. The specific challenges of relocating to Monaco are addressed below.

Monaco is home to many families and entrepreneurs whose increasingly international asset situations raise issues of conflict of laws. Relocating to or investing in the Principality requires coordinating Monegasque law with French law and, often, with other foreign legal systems: residency, real estate acquisitions, corporate and fund structuring, matrimonial property regimes, and estate planning.

The Principality also offers new investment opportunities, particularly in the space sector, one of its strategic priorities: the framework agreement concluded between the National Center for Space Studies (CNES) and the Government of Monaco thus allows Monegasque funds to join the SPACELY investor club of Connect by CNES.

De Gaulle Fleurance Attorneys and Notaries supports its clients across all these areas, from structuring their private and professional investments to protecting and transferring their assets, ensuring they operate within a stable and legally secure framework. We operate from Paris in close coordination with a network of trusted Monegasque professionals: attorneys, notaries, legal and accounting advisors, and, where appropriate, family offices. Before the Court of Review and the Supreme Court, cases are handled in collaboration with the law firm BRIARD-BONICHOT.

Where wealth includes a business, shareholdings, holding companies or other significant business assets, a separation or divorce can raise issues that go well beyond the division of private assets.

A divorce can have direct repercussions on the governance and operation of the business: upsetting the balance between shareholders, the potential entry of the former spouse into the share capital or decision-making bodies, difficulties in valuing the shares, or even deadlock in day-to-day management until the situation is resolved.

The nature of the assets, how they are held, the matrimonial property regime and the organisation of the companies therefore interact with questions of ownership, valuation and governance, as well as the continuity and long-term future of the business.

De Gaulle Fleurance approaches these situations in their wealth, family and business dimensions, combining family law issues with those of corporate law, governance and tax, in order to protect both the business owner’s personal interests and the long-term future of the company.

Wealth disputes are particularly complex when they combine family interests with issues relating to the ownership or control of businesses, shareholdings, real estate or other significant assets. Succession, corporate, tax and wealth considerations can then be closely intertwined.

De Gaulle Fleurance acts in disputes between heirs, partners, shareholders and family branches, in France and internationally. The firm addresses every dimension of the conflict in order to define a strategy suited to the situation, whether that means seeking a negotiated solution or defending its clients’ interests in litigation.

This dual advisory and litigation practice enables us to anticipate, at an early stage, the risk of disagreement in the organisation of governance and wealth.