Several preventive strategies are needed to help perpetuate family assets, but timing needs to be taken seriously: protection needs to be done at the right time.

Asset Planning can be defined as "A set of legal strategies that aim to define in life, the best form of succession, preserving or not the administration of assets in the hands of the founder of assets." Rather, it is the adoption of preventive measures by the owner of the property in relation to the destination of his assets after his death.

Therefore, a Property Planning appropriate to the specific case, allows the owner of the assets to avoid the lengthy bureaucratic procedure of a litigious inventory, reducing the tax burden, among other examples, thus providing legal security to the heirs and even benefiting people not present in the role of the law and that it intends, in some way, to protect.

Although Planning can be carried out through numerous instruments provided for by law, none of them is as effective as the creation of Holdings, as will be explained below:

Will: presents a disadvantage in relation to the other modalities, which is a limitation to the available part of the inheritance. Furthermore, the will does not admit reciprocity with respect to the spouse, that is, the spouses cannot test the same good for each other. This makes impossible an important objective of Patrimonial Planning, which is the preservation of the administration of assets in the absence of the spouse.

Private Pension: in Brazil, there are two most common types: PGBL and VGBL. The main difference between them is in taxation. Although these plans were preliminarily used for this purpose when they were created, today they are not used as much for this main purpose. The reason for this area is the legal uncertainty caused by some court decisions, determining attachments on the PGBL and VGBL plans as if they were simple financial investments, causing many to abandon this strategy.

Donation: it is insufficient to achieve all the desired effects.

Real Estate Funds, Investment Participation Funds (FIP), Escrow Accounts, Offshore Companies and Trusts: these are more complex structures. These structures involve legislation from other countries and have higher maintenance costs. Possibility of using the  Joint tenancy with rights of survivorship as a succession tool. [Article available on the blog]

Creation of holdings (patrimonial or family): this is the best strategy, as it presents the best cost-benefit ratio. Here, non-operating companies are created, that is, without activities, which aim to concentrate existing assets or others that will be acquired throughout life. The purpose is to avoid inventory, reduce tax costs and plan the succession in a less harmful way. In addition, it is possible to do a tax avoidance work (lawful reduction of the tax burden) if compared to the cases of inventory or donation. It is important to point out that they generate greater fiscal savings in the medium and long term, within the tax context.

It is important to emphasize that the help of a trained professional is essential, as legal requirements must be observed and respected and the family structure of each case understood.

The judgment of Extraordinary Appeal 878,694 by the STF declared article 1790 of the Brazilian Civil Code unconstitutional, and, therefore, many property rights of the partners were modified. In this way, it is essential that the owner of the property has clarified the scope of the rights of the person with whom he lives, and of the children in competition with the surviving person, who may not be the parent of those children.

Heritage Planning is based on three important pillars:

1st- It avoids exposing the assets to risks through mechanisms that allow that the acquired goods are not compromised;

2º- Defines the division of the inheritance in advance, ensuring that the owner's desire is exercised;

3º- Search for the best tax path in accordance with the law, avoiding payment of unnecessary taxes.

Many people don't know, but Estate Planning is not synonymous with Estate Planning. The first, in turn, seeks to schedule the most appropriate transfer of assets to family members, or third parties, after their death; the second is directly related to the way in which the owner of the assets is associated with it, and the link with the use and enjoyment by their family members.