Passing on your company to your children, your spouse or a close relative is a problem that is at once legal, patrimonial and human. This step raises complex issues: tax, balance between heirs, value of the company, perpetuity of the family project.
Our firm supports managers in their transmission of a family business by combining legal expertise and strategic listening. With us, you secure every step, while respecting your wishes and values.
Why use a lawyer to transfer your family business?
An inadequately anticipated family transfer can generate tensions, burden taxation or threaten the survival of the business. As a business transfer lawyer, our role is to :
- Choose the right legal strategy (transfer, donation, dismemberment…),
- Optimize taxation (via a pacte Dutreil for example),
- Preserving the balance between heirs,
- And guarantee the legal validity of each act.
In short, we help managers to secure family succession while protecting capital, governance and family harmony.
Legal options for transferring your business
Every transfer is unique. Depending on your objectives (retirement, anticipating succession, restructuring), different solutions are available to you.
Gift or sale of securities
You can transfer your business by :
- Donation of shares, in full ownership or bare ownership,
- Or assignment for valuable consideration, often at a symbolic price or adapted to the financial capacity of the child buyer.
The lawyer will advise you on the tax and inheritance implications depending on the solutions chosen.
Pacte Dutreil
The pacte Dutreil provides a tax reduction of up to 75 % on transfer duties. It requires a collective and individual commitment to retain shares, as well as a maintained operational activity.
We can help you structure an appropriate, legally sound agreement that meets deadlines and complies with tax regulations.
Takeover by one or more heirs
Passing on to only one child raises the question of equity. For several, it raises the question of governance.
Our firm can help you set up :
- A partners’ agreement to avoid blockages,
- Exit clauses or buyback clauses,
- Or a family holding to centralize ownership and organize collective management.
Mistakes to avoid in a family succession
- Underestimating potential conflicts between heirs or spouses,
- Not anticipating inheritance tax and tax delays,
- Forgetting to formalize the executive’s intentions (letter of intent, pact, statutory clause…),
- Do not supervise the operational takeover of the company.
A attorney can help prevent these risks and ensure asuccessful transfer of business.
Our support for family business leaders
We are involved at every stage of the project:
- Wealth and legal diagnostics,
- Advice on the type of transmission (transfer, donation, dismemberment),
- Drafting of actes de donation, contrats de cession, pactes Dutreil,
- Coordination with other parties (notary, accountant),
- Setting up a permanent family governance.
See also our related pages:
→ Company transfer lawyer
→ Transfer agreement
→ Company takeover lawyer
→ Company transfer agreement
Frequently asked questions about business transfers
What is the difference between a gift and a transfer in a family transmission?
The donation is free (but tax-regulated), often used to anticipate succession. The cession, on the other hand, involves a transfer with consideration. Either can be fiscally advantageous depending on the context.
What is the Pacte Dutreil and when is it useful?
The pacte Dutreil offers a significant reduction in transfer duties on a free transfer. It is particularly well suited to family businesses that have been held for several years, with an operational activity.
Should I go through a lawyer or a notary?
The two are often complementary. The notary manages inheritance and tax aspects, while the lawyer secures company deeds, prepares complex clauses (pact, governance, articles of association), and defends your strategic interests.
How to avoid family conflicts during a transfer?
The key is to anticipate, dialogue and formalize. A lawyer can suggest solutions such as a partners’ agreement, staggering the transfer, or guarantees for non-executing heirs.
Can you gradually pass on a business to your children?
Yes, thanks to a staged donation, a property dismemberment or a partial transfer. Our lawyer can help you organize this smooth, tax-efficient and legally sound transition.
Contact a lawyer to organize your transfer
You are preparing the transmission of your family business to your children or a loved one?
Confide your project to an experienced, discreet and rigorous lawyer.
- Anticipate the succession of your company with peace of mind
- Contact our firm for human and strategic support