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At Family Assets & Legacy Inc. (FAL), we understand the unique challenges faced by families - with respect to assets and legacy - especially in developing countries.
Wealthy families have limited local access to expertise for dealing with family, business and ownership issues including succession, family communication and overall intra-family harmony.
Many working families, on the other hand, find it impossible to establish the asset base required to guarantee some measure of economic security. Foreigners and expatriates find it easier to extract a disproportionate amount of value (‘milk the country’s resources’) than local working families.
For example, a Ghanaian could potentially own a part interest in a local (Ghanaian) gold mine as well as a part interest in a Canadian Oil & Gas well. This is usually anchored on a trust deed arrangement, with a reputable local trustee (or trust company) serving as the hub. We also help such families structure their affairs properly
- To ensure that family assets are passed on to the next generation, in accordance with the intent of the parents (or any other family member)
- To ensure that all legal tax avoidance options are optimally utilized, so that heirs and other beneficiaries get to keep as much as possible
In few families, there is more than enough wealth to go around – but that abundance becomes a source of friction, as family members scheme and manipulate their way to a larger share of the pie. In many instances, family businesses don’t survive the founder or inheritance disagreements lead to protracted (sometimes decades long) litigation. Through our partnerships and alliances with some of the best service providers in North America and elsewhere, we work with these families
- To implement structures for a more harmonious family – family meetings, family mission statements and so on
- To understand and use to the family’s advantage, the interlocking forces of family, business and ownership