Living is a gift, a gift, and it is possible to recognize its greatness, especially considering the moment we are going through.
More and more, we realize how small we are in the face of circumstances, and we start to value life, small gestures, details, touch.
The idea that each day is unique and that it offers infinite possibilities to love, care, help, be better than yesterday, gains strength.
However, as interesting and important as thinking about life can be thinking about death.
For those who stay, the grieving process is arduous, as each person feels their pain in a different way and expresses it (or not) in different ways.
In addition to all the sadness resulting from the death of a loved one, bureaucratic situations often arise, hitherto unknown or whose importance was underestimated, that need to be resolved.
Very few people in Brazil carry out succession planning, which is nothing more than planning, in life, how the distribution of assets will take place and what are the best measures to be taken, in order to avoid family conflicts, high tax burden and the slowness of an inventory process.
It is not uncommon for families to dispose of some property or take out loans to pay taxes, expenses arising from legal proceedings or notary public services. All this because succession planning is still seen as taboo in the country and done by a minority.
However, postponing this conversation is not the best option. On the contrary, the best option is to carefully reflect on that heritage that was built over a lifetime through work, on the people who followed (or did not) this trajectory and will benefit from it, on the possibilities of these heirs to bear the costs to receive such goods and then keep them.
Carrying out the succession planning brings possibilities to the heirs, allows them, while they are still in mourning and in a moment of great fragility, not to experience embarrassment or that these are reduced.
Some planning options are will; Donation; family holding, which is the creation of a legal entity with the objective of grouping some or all of a family’s assets.
Depending on the heritage and age of the heirs, one option is more or less advantageous than the other.
For example, as a rule, the creation of a family holding only makes sense if the family owns assets with significant values or a group of companies, after all, the formation of a company involves costs (accounting, financial, legal, and others).
Donating goods to minors, as a rule, is not advantageous, since, if there is an interest in the future sale of the good, it will be necessary to file a court order for a permit for the sale and, after that, the value for which the good was sold must be linked to a court account so that it can be used for the benefit of minors. In other words, it is not possible to use the values for different purposes. For the elderly and capable, the measure can have several positive effects.
Thus, planning in detail how the distribution of assets will be fundamental, as it allows the heirs a little more peace of mind when dealing with these issues at such a painful time, and also reduce the tax burden, so that it is preserved as much of the heritage as possible.
So, let’s live today, tomorrow and after, with all the beauty and magnitude that life has to offer, but let’s not forget that we must also think about death.
Advogada da Advocacia Hamilton de Oliveira, é inscrita na Ordem dos Advogados do Brasil – Seção de São Paulo (OAB/SP).
Formada pela Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Campinas (PUC-CAMPINAS), sua prática tem sido dedicada à área do Direito Civil, especialmente do Direito da Família e das Sucessões.
Idiomas: Inglês.
