Estate Planning is a concept that has come to the Netherlands from the United States and is used to describe the advice provided on legal and tax aspects of managing and disposing of family wealth and other assets.
Its purpose is to ensure that capital that has been built up can be transferred to beneficiaries and heirs as tax-efficiently as possible.
Estate Planning is an integral part of financial planning. In other words, part of managing your assets, your pension provisions and your desired spending patterns over longer periods of time, with the total income tax burden being an important aspect of this planning. The primary aim of Estate Planning is to optimise the structure of your estate so as to limit the inheritance taxes payable in due course. And this can involve quite some planning.
Your planning has to take account of a variety of issues, including gifts, inheritance laws, marital property laws and tax legislation. Questions to be considered may include:
- Do you need to change your prenuptial agreement?
- Is it best to transfer your assets while you are still alive?
It is obviously very important for any measures taken to be properly aligned.
Mr. Richard Dom is a certified member of EPN (Dutch Association of Estate Planners in the Notarial Profession).
Please contact us by telephone or e-mail (via contact ) for further information.
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