Advisory On Wills

At CM Advocates we have adopted a business model that allows our advocates to specialize in specific areas of law and offer timely, dynamic yet practical solutions to our client’s legal problems. We pride ourselves in being a thought leader in the legal services industry and indeed a reliable partner to our clients. Our Family Business Unit (FBU) specializes in matters family law and commercial law. Our advocates are astute family and commercial lawyers able to advice on the varied legal challenges that face the family unit, including, matters estate planning, marriage, divorce, probate and succession, structuring of family businesses e.t.c. The Unit has four main practice areas as follows:- Estate Planning, Probate and Succession Estate planning is the process of anticipating and arranging, during a person's life, for the management and disposal of that person's estate during the person's life and at and after death, while minimizing potential management or tax exposures. Our services offerings include: (a) Drafting and Advisory on Wills and other Estate Planning tools; (b) Creation of Family Holding Companies, Family Trusts and Foundations; (c) Transfer of family properties to a family holding company (for ease of administration and tax efficiency) and procuring the requisite tax exemptions on transfer of family properties such a vehicle; (d) Advisory and Court Representation for Probate and Administration processes in Kenya. Family Law – Marriage and Divorce Laws Marriage and Divorce are private and sensitive some may even say personal issues but the reality is both are legal relationships with legal processes and obligations. Our team of lawyers have extensive knowledge and experience in advising and guiding clients on all matters marriage and divorce and duly appreciate the sensitivity and confidential nature of both areas of practice. We walk with you before, during and after the marriage. We offer advisory on prenuptial agreements, how best to hold matrimonial properties, tax efficient wealth management, divorce settlements, property ownership and succession in blended families and division of matrimonial property e.t.c. Our team also includes professionally accredited mediators who help parties work through the legal issues without necessarily severing their familial ties. Children Law – Custody, Maintenance, Adoption, Guardianship We work for the best interest of your children. a) Advisory, legal and court representation on children custody and maintenance; b) Advisory and court representation on local and international adoption, guardianship and foster care applications. c) Appointment of guardian ad litem for court processes and drafting of requisite non-disclosure agreements to safeguard the family and child’s privacy; d) Drafting and enforcement of Parental Responsibility Agreements; e) Court representation for minors (offenders); and f ) Advisory and establishments of Continuing Trusts. We have close knit networks with the Children’s department, adoption agencies, social workers, VCOs as indeed the practice of children’s law is a matter of concerted effort between stakeholders to ensure the best interest of the child. Restructuring of Family Businesses For a family business, succession is a once-in-a-lifetime decision. Perhaps no undertaking has as much potential to exacerbate the special stresses – or, conversely, highlight the special advantages – of operating a family business. And as if the business, emotional, legal and technical issues weren’t thorny enough, consider this daunting fact: only about 30 per cent of family businesses survive into a second generation. As shy as many families may be to tackle the issue of succession planning, the health and longevity of a family business depend on a well-executed succession planning – developing a robust plan and communicating the results to the right stakeholders in a timeous manner. Doing so will increase the likelihood of your business enduring beyond the leadership transition, delivering lasting value to your family. Why come to think of us: a) Implementing effective structures in the family owned business – drafting of board charters, family employment policies, family constitution, executive director contracts, shareholder agreements, establishing structures for family participation in the business e.g family council e.t.c b) Succession Plan and Strategy- we have a professional legal and business-minded team dedicated to helping family business owners develop an effective succession plan. Further, we shall also assist you in each step in the execution of the plan, so that the whole process runs as smoothly and efficiently as possible. c) Sale of the business- If a sale is the best option, we work with you to get the best price for your business by identifying the right buyer, while respecting your confidentiality. d) Conduct Board member training, inductions as well as evaluation. e) Establish and implement corporate governance checks and balances as well as conduct corporate governance audits; f) Legal, Risks and Compliance Audits. g) Creating of an effective family –owned corporate group structure (where there are more than one companies); h) Business and Personal Tax Planning; i) Set up of a Family foundation, trust or Charity; j) Set up of Employee-Share- Option- Schemes (ESOPs), creation of Class B (non voting shares) to loyal and favourable employees. k) HR consultations and advisory including advising on redundancies, disciplinary procedures, organisation structure, performance management, review and drafting of HR Manual and various policy documents etc. i) Bankruptcy and Insolvency Advisory and legal representation; j) Company Secretarial and Corporate and Individual Trustee Services.

How can we help?

The Wealth and Private Clients team at CM Advocates LLP prides itself in having a wide variety of resources, skills and experience on matters estate planning spanning, trust management and trust administration spanning across the East African Region. It offers an edge to its clients based on its legacy of having structured, re-structured, amended, incorporated several forms of trusts and therefore well capable of guiding you through the process of creating a valid blind trust. Should you have any questions regarding the subject of establishing a blind trust or a family trust, or related topic, please do not hesitate to contact  us on law@cmadvocates.com or dgichuru@cmadvocates.com

Disclaimer

This alert is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice.