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Private Clients, Family Offices And Wealth Management

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introduction

Our private clients practice group provides a range of legal services tailored for individuals, including high net worth individuals and families to assist them in estate planning, to facilitate succession planning and optimise wealth management and enable wealth transfer arrangements.

We also work closely with our corporate, immigration and real estate practices to provide a seamless and comprehensive service. We are deeply dedicated to serving the diverse and often complex needs of our individual clients. From creating a will, establishing a trust and advancing philanthropic causes, we listen carefully to our clients to better understand their requirements, objectives and wishes in estate planning and provide efficient advice, suggest viable options to effectively help our clients achieve their objectives.

We create a secure and confidential environment, where our clients feel comfortable and confident in discussing their concerns, objective and wishes in estate planning so that they can make the best and most appropriate legal decisions.

Our Practice

Our Private Clients Practice Group is concerned with fulfilling the private needs of individuals, including the individuals behind our corporate and business clients. These needs relate broadly to an individual’s family and the preservation of personal wealth to fulfil the individual’s objectives.

Estate Planning – Described as the art of organising your affairs in such a way that, no matter how rich or poor you consider yourself to be, you achieve your maximum potential for wealth protection and are able to enjoy it as much as possible during your lifetime, all your loved ones and dependants are properly provided for in accordance with your wishes and their needs and none of your hard earned wealth (or as little as possible) is lost in unnecessary expenses and taxes. An estate plan may be prepared at any time of your life but is more effective the earlier you start. It may include aspects of Trusts, Wills and Probate among other things.

Trusts – Often used to protect assets and preserve them for the use and benefit of future generations or other beneficiaries of your choice. They have other uses, for example, in the context of wills, avoiding probate and mitigating death duties which may arise in other countries.

Wills and Probate – This is not just about providing for your family or making sure the right people get the right amount after you move to the next world. It is about caring for your family now through timely planning. Putting the right person in charge of your property. Making sure that things are as easy as possible for your family in the event of your death. It need not be too difficult nor take a lot of your time to make a will. Our fast track wills system eases the process for you, making it as painless and efficient as possible.

Estate Duty – Although estate duty has been abolished in Singapore, in cases of death on or after 15 February 2008, it is still relevant to the estates of persons who died before that date.

Immigration – Advice on and assisting on applications for and the renewal of employment and dependant passes, multiple entry visas, permanent residence applications, professional visit passes, social and business visit passes, re-entry permits, training passes and Singapore citizenship.

Employment – We provide comprehensive advice and practical guidance for executives whether you are on garden leave or simply moving on to richer pastures. We can assist in helping you to understand the legal paperwork, your contractual rights and obligations and making sure that, when you get back on the job, this is done with the minimum interruption and that all your contractual and negotiated benefits from your immediate past employment remain intact.

 

Our Experience

Offshore Trusts & Estate Planning – Regularly advise on and prepare documentation for trusts, including offshore trusts and estate planning.

Lifetime & Protective Trust –  Setting up lifetime and protective trusts and advising trustees on various aspects of trusts, for example, the set up, tax implications, administration and estate litigation.

Wills & Probate  –  Wills and probate matters, both contentious and non-contentious.

Wills  –  Fast track wills procedure: we can speedily draft wills to suit all needs, including the simple family provision will to mutual wills, joint wills and wills for those with special requirements.

Trust Administration  –  Advising on transactions related to trust administration including capital di stribution, asset sale and development of real property assets.

Offshore Trusts – Advising settlors in planning and setting up offshore trusts and other offshore vehicles for estate planning, asset management and wealth management.

practice areas

A diverse range of services to meet your legal needs.

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We believe that philanthropy is an important part of wealth and legacy planning, and we are proud to support our clients in their pursuit of giving back to society. We understand that our clients want to leave a lasting legacy that goes beyond their financial success. At CNPLaw, we work closely with our private clients to help them achieve their philanthropic goals.

Our private clients practice offers bespoke advice on the suitable legal form of a charity, such as a charitable trust, a society, or a company limited by guarantee. We guide our clients through the process of establishing and registering their charity, including the requirements to become an institution of public character, where applicable. We ensure that all relevant documentation accurately reflects our clients’ philanthropic intentions.

Our team also advises on tax-efficient giving, including charitable donations and bequests, and helps our clients structure their philanthropic contributions in the most effective way possible. We have extensive experience working with high-net-worth individuals, family offices and charitable foundations, and are committed to providing practical and tailored solutions that align with our clients’ values and goals.

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Estate and succession planning can be described as the art of planning and organising personal affairs to achieve maximum wealth protection for one’s family.

CNPLaw offers expert advice tailored to the specific needs of our clients. We help our clients with the complexities of Singapore’s estate laws, which include the Intestate Succession Act and the Wills Act.

An estate plan may be prepared at any time of one’s life but we usually recommend our clients to start early for maximized efficiency. Effective estate planning may include appropriately drafted wills and the use of trusts, amongst other things.

Our services include the preparation of wills, setting up of trusts, and assistance with lasting power of attorney and deputyship applications. We also regularly assist clients in applying for a Grant of Probate and Letters of Administration and advise on estate and trust administration matters.

Our experienced lawyers work closely with our clients to understand their needs and priorities, and provide practical solutions to help them achieve their objectives. With our guidance, our clients can have peace of mind knowing that their estates are well-protected and their loved ones will be provided for in accordance with their wishes.

With proper estate planning, our clients are able to minimise the exposure of their accumulated wealth to unnecessary expenses and taxes. This helps them safeguard their wealth during their lifetime and ensures that their loved ones will be properly provided for when their time comes.

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Setting up a family office can offer several legal benefits to high-net-worth individuals or families. At our firm, we understand the intricacies of establishing a family office, and we work with our clients to ensure that their objectives are achieved while adhering to Singapore’s legal framework.

One of the primary legal benefits of setting up a family office is the ability to have a single point of contact for all wealth management services. By consolidating all assets and investments under one entity, the family office structure can provide a more streamlined and efficient approach to managing a family’s wealth.

Additionally, a family office can provide significant tax planning benefits. Our team of legal experts can work with clients to structure the family office in a tax-efficient manner, ensuring that tax liabilities are minimized while staying in compliance with Singapore’s tax laws.

Estate and succession planning are also critical functions of a family office. We assist clients in creating comprehensive estate plans, including trusts and other legal structures which ensure that their assets are passed on to their heirs in a manner that aligns with their wishes and goals.

Finally, many high-net-worth families also have a philanthropic agenda, and a family office can help to coordinate charitable giving in a way that maximizes impact while staying in compliance with relevant laws and regulations.

Our firm has the expertise and experience necessary to help clients set up and manage their family offices, providing tailored legal solutions that address their unique needs and objectives.

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The legal complexities of immigration laws and policies pose significant concerns for many private clients and require personalised legal advice and support.

Our legal team at CNPLaw has extensive experience in working with and managing private clients, ensuring that applications for permanent residency and citizenship are presented in the best possible way to the authorities, and that clients meet all the legal requirements for doing so.

In addition to assisting with immigration applications, we also provide legal advice to private clients on matters such as estate planning, family law, and wealth management. We understand that these areas are highly personal and require a sensitive and nuanced approach.

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Losing a loved one is never easy and as the legal process of obtaining the Court’s grant to administer the estate of your loved one differs depending whether the person left a will or not. Our team will assist you in obtaining a Grant of Probate (where there is a will) or Letters of Administration (where there is no will). We help to ensure that the entire process is as fuss-free and smooth sailing as possible.

A Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration is required in order for the estate to be administered and distributed by the executor or administrator. The distribution will either be in accordance with the terms of the will or if there is no will, in compliance with Singapore law. If necessary, after the Grant is obtained, we can assist clients with calling in the assets. Such assets include real propertybank accounts and shares in private and public companies.

We also regularly assist foreign clients in resealing a foreign Grant which has been obtained in a commonwealth country (e.g. Malaysia and Hong Kong) in the Singapore courts. This authorises and enables foreign clients to deal with the deceased’s assets in Singapore.

In cases where a client domiciled in Singapore has assets elsewhere in the world, we can tap on our network of international partner firms to assist in dealing with such assets.

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Having a will enables one to go further than just providing for one’s family at present. It ensures that upon one’s demise, the selected people will get the amount dictated, and the appointed person will be put in charge of the assets to distribute them according to one’s wishes.

Making a will need not be difficult nor time-consuming. Our fast track wills system eases the will-making process, making it focused on addressing the requirements of our clients in an efficient and cost-effective manner.

Nonetheless, we are mindful that each will is unique and has to be tailored to the specific needs of the client. Clients are therefore invited to discuss their plans with us so that we can ensure their will covers the different classes of assets and beneficiaries in accordance with their wishes.

We also regularly advise and assist clients with the setting up of trusts for various purposes, ranging from protection of assets from creditors to ring-fencing the assets from probate proceedings.

accolades for Private Clients, Family Offices And Wealth Management

Award-winning leader in the legal space.

Over the years, CNPLaw has ranked highly in professional and commercial publications on our ability to help clients purposefully navigate the intricacies of the law.

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Our Private Clients, Family Offices And Wealth Management team is ready to help.

Adopt bespoke legal solutions to overcome legal hoops with our Private Clients, Family Offices And Wealth Management team's deep expertise.

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Partner

Quek Li Fei

Equity Partner, Management Committee

Pradeep Kumar Singh

Managing Partner, Equity Partner, Management Committee

Lisa Theng

Partner

Ravindran Ramasamy

Partner

See Tow Soo Ling

Partner

Chia Shengyou, Edwin

Partner

Wong Pei-Ling

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