Shareholders / Partnership Trust

So How Do Southern Legal Services Company Wills And Cross Option Agreements Differ?

Southern Legal Services offers business estate planning tailor made to suit you and your business. It takes the Standard planning options available on the High Street a significant step further.

Southern Legal Services' planning, provides significant protection to the business and reduces the possible impact of Inheritance Tax dramatically.

Furthermore the business and proceeds from a future sale of the business are protected for the bloodline from IHT, remarriage, creditor claims, residential care fees.

Our Planning leaves each partner or director's share of their business to individual Family Trusts through  appropriate Clauses written into their Wills.

Furthermore the appropriate Life Cover will also be assigned to 'Shareholder Trusts' so that these proceeds do not impact on the surviving individual estates.

Once the Cross Option has been executed, the proceeds from any Life Assurance policy replace the share held in the deceased's Family Trust(s) and so do not form part of the beneficiary's estate.

These funds are now protected against any of the risks named above and the surviving spouse and beneficiaries still have full access to the Trust assets.

So How Does This Benefit The Remaining Business Partner?

The surviving business partner still retains their original share of the business but the deceased's partner's share is passed directly into a Shareholder Trust(s) from where the Life assurance proceeds were originally paid. The surviving Director still has the fullest of control on the business as he is a Trustee of the Shareholder Trust(s).

The Shareholder Trust(s) can also be utilised as a further efficient income tax planning tool. Now that a proportion of the business is in the Shareholder trust(s) any dividends paid into the Trust(s) could be distributed to beneficiaries of the trusts who may well have nil or low rate income tax.

Should the surviving Director(s) decide to sell the business, only their original share of the business will enter their estate. The remaining share will belong to the Shareholder Trust(s) for which he and his family are beneficiaries.

This share is also protected and cannot be assessed for IHT purposes or be at risk from attack by Long Term Care Costs, divorce, and bankruptcy.