Regula Bergsma
Legal advice
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We help clients with increasingly complex questions relating to succession planning, family law and inheritance law. In today’s world, it’s no longer unusual to see partnerships and marriages between people of different nationalities, to have assets spread across countries or to be part of a patchwork family.
We advise entrepreneurs and other individuals or families on the legal and tax aspects of succession planning and administration of estates in an international context.
Business succession| Wills and testaments | Marital and inheritance agreements
We advise entrepreneurs on succession planning at their company. We can support you with share transfers, management continuity, shareholder agreements or inheritance law arrangements.
We place great emphasis on ensuring the testator's wishes are respected. Together, we establish your wants and needs and clarify the legal aspects with regard to your family situation and relevant assets. Based on the information gathered, we draft suggestions for your will and testament or marital and inheritance agreements, taking national and cross-border tax aspects into account.
Health care proxies | Living wills
For many people, it’s important to maintain autonomy and the right to self-determination, even if they lose their power of judgement through illness, accident or old age. We help you take precautionary measures by drawing up a health care proxy that considers your individual circumstances and enables you to specify how you wish to be cared for and by whom. If and when the time comes, the Swiss authority responsible for the protection of children and adults (KESB) will appoint the person specified in your proxy to be responsible for your care; you will not be subject to permanent KASB supervision. This relieves the burden for yourself and your loved ones.
A living will governs which medical procedures you agree - or do not agree - to if your power of judgement becomes impaired.
Execution of wills| Estate division| Foundation establishment
Testators can appoint BDO as executor of their last will and testament, either in the will itself or in an inheritance agreement. If no executor has been named, we can help the community of heirs divide up the estate.
We also advise and support clients through the process of setting up a foundation.
Our expertise at a glance
- Succession planning
- Drafting of testaments and inheritance agreements
- Execution of wills
- Family/estate settlement agreements
- Representation of heirs
- Support for communities of heirs
- Establishment of foundations, legacies
- Health care proxies and living wills
