Estates & wealth planning.

In matters of succession, Swiss law offers one of the most stable frameworks in Europe — and one of the most demanding when it comes to articulating it with foreign elements. It is precisely at this articulation that the value of an experienced firm resides.

Our clientele in this area falls into two main groups. On one side, Swiss or Swiss-resident wealthy families whose structuring and transmission we accompany over several generations. On the other, international residents whose assets are scattered across several jurisdictions, and for whom legal coordination is a prerequisite to any decision.

I. Fiduciary structures and trusts

The Swiss fiduciary structure, long relegated behind the Anglo-Saxon trust, now occupies a place of its own. We have practised it since its earliest contemporary uses, and have accompanied several of the structurings that created case law on patrimonial separation. Our role, in practice, consists as much in designing the instrument as in arbitrating between a Swiss-law fiduciary and an English, Jersey or Guernsey trust, depending on the composition of assets and the residence of beneficiaries.

The question is never purely instrumental. It engages taxation, forced heirship rules, and the legibility of the arrangement for the generations who will inherit it. We insist that each structure be explainable, in under five minutes, to the persons who will inherit it.

II. Wealth planning

Planning is, in logical order, the first step. It begins with a comprehensive review — patrimonial, familial, fiscal, residential — and results in a framing document that we revisit every three to five years. The tools employed are classic: succession agreements, matrimonial contracts, gradual liberalities, foreign-law partitioned gifts where applicable, transmission holding companies, charitable foundations.

What we firmly believe: there is no 'ideal' structure. There are structures that are right for a given family at a given moment. The worst error in wealth planning is importing the scheme that served the neighbour.

III. International successions

EU Regulation 650/2012 has, in theory, simplified the conduct of cross-border successions. In practice, Switzerland is not a party to it, and the multiple residence of the deceased remains the primary source of complication. Our role, in the presence of foreign elements, consists first in determining the applicable law — an exercise that is anything but straightforward — then in coordinating execution across the relevant jurisdictions.

We typically coordinate with correspondents in France, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States and the UAE. Oversight remains in Geneva. The client has a single point of contact; the other jurisdictions organise themselves behind the scenes.

IV. Anonymised case studies

V. Dedicated team

In estate and wealth matters, the principal contact is Catherine Mercier, founding partner, supported by Élise Hofmann for cases involving foreign elements, and by Lucas Brassart for the fiscal and structural dimension. This team has been in place since 2014; it has, to date, completed over 160 significant wealth cases.