Anyone who has built up private wealth during their lifetime, or who has received and grown family wealth, wants to see it remain within their own family or with their heirs in the future. The declared objective here is, of course, to preserve one’s wealth without it being eroded by the tax authorities or by potential inheritance disputes. To achieve this, it is enormously important to give thought to one’s own estate at an early stage and to address the topics of inheritance, the will and succession.

So-called anticipated succession plays a special role when it comes to inheritance law, because it allows a transfer of assets to take place during one’s lifetime. In legal terms, anticipated succession can therefore be described in short as a gift to persons who would in any case be entitled to inherit from within the family, or to other potential heirs. The background to this “tax loophole” is the so-called gift-tax allowance, which can be used in full by the testator every 10 years without any tax or other levies becoming payable to the state. This allowance is comparatively high and, unlike the allowance on death, can be claimed repeatedly. This thereby enables the testator to pass on even larger amounts of wealth to their descendants over a longer period of time.

There are, of course, further reasons to put arrangements in place in advance in order to secure one’s own wealth. In addition to the inheritance of private assets, the question may also concern the preservation of family businesses or other connected assets, such as companies and the like. Here, alongside securing the assets, the continued existence of the business is clearly the priority. The aim is to proactively prevent a break-up of companies through inheritance disputes.

Furthermore, as a testator one should also bear in mind that an early succession may impose obligations on the heirs, as is frequently the case, for example, with the transfer of real estate and the granting of a right of residence or a usufruct. Which option is advantageous for the individual testator differs according to their personal circumstances and their further life planning. For tax purposes, both types of transfer can become relevant and put the tax authorities on alert. The so-called “maintenance and care obligation” should likewise be considered and regulated in good time by the testator in the context of a gift.

The variations within the field of anticipated succession are manifold and, following a careful review of the individual circumstances require a strategic approach as well as legally sound and long-term planning.

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