Family businesses

Separate the different roles

A family member may be an owner, director, employee, lender or property owner. Record each role and its terms instead of relying on the family relationship to explain payments or decision-making authority.

Keep the operating evidence current

• Reconcile family funding and withdrawals with the books.
• Retain property leases and related-party contracts.
• Record who can sign, borrow and approve major decisions.
• Maintain ownership and succession-related documents with appropriate advisers.

Plan for changes before they happen

A generation change, new family shareholder or division of operating responsibilities can affect banking mandates, contracts and governance. Compare the intended arrangement with the entity documents and actual asset ownership.

A practical distinction

Giving a relative day-to-day control of a business does not itself transfer shares or the premises from which it operates. Define operational authority, ownership and property arrangements separately so the records support the intended result.

Support for the next stage

We can organise the ownership map, accounts and implementation checklist. Personal succession, trusts, wills and contested family arrangements require appropriately qualified legal and tax advice; no particular inheritance or tax outcome is assumed.

Choose support for the intended change

For continuity of ownership and control, business succession planning starts with the current ownership evidence and the family’s instructions. Identify business assets separately from personally held property and keep decisions still under discussion visible to the advisers.

For a proposed division or rearrangement of business activities, family business reorganisation maps the entities, assets, contracts and implementation steps. A commercial understanding needs to be connected to the records for each affected entity.

For transactions between a company and connected people or entities, related-party transaction support reviews the proposed arrangement and relevant company facts. Provide the actual terms and relationships instead of grouping every payment under a general family account.

Prepare a shared decision file

Start with an ownership chart, entity list, major asset schedule and existing agreements. Record which instructions are agreed, which require a decision and who is authorised to provide them. Keep sensitive personal documents for the document-exchange process agreed with the appointed advisers.

For example, one family member may own premises used by a company managed by another. A management transition should identify the premises arrangement and signing authorities as separate items, allowing the advisers to explain the documents and actions relevant to each.