Would an asset scan be useful for you?

Ann Westen   |  

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Ann Westen

Ann is part of the Tax & Legal team and specializes in, among other things, succession.

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As an entrepreneur you are used to your accountant drawing up your company’s balance sheet each year. What assets does the firm own and what debts does it have? What are your company’s revenues? But did you know that it can also be useful to draw up your own private balance sheet? That way, you can map out how many assets you have accumulated already and what the proportion of movable versus immovable property is. You can also map out the division of assets between yourself and your spouse in order to assess the consequences of a relationship break-up or death.

A scan of your assets

Certain decisions can be taken based on a scan of private assets. We list the most important points to take into consideration.

First of all, your marriage contract can be reviewed and adjusted to suit your specific (new) wishes. For example, there may have been a distortion, due to changed circumstances, in the accumulation of assets over the years that is not to your liking. Furthermore, old marriage contracts often contain clauses whose effect in case of death is not interesting from a tax point of view, or perhaps the surviving spouse will be insufficiently protected in the event of unexpected death.

It may be advisable, then, to take a closer look at the composition of the accumulated assets. Have you built up all your assets within the company and do you own too few or no private assets? Is there a lot of private immovable property in your operating company? This makes later sale of your company to a third party or the transfer to the next generation more difficult. Anticipating this early can ensure a smoother transfer later on.

We can also list how many and which insurance contracts you have taken out to date and who has been designated as beneficiary. This way, you can check whether you are adequately insured in each situation and who the beneficiary is. After all, in the event of death, the insured amount will be paid to the designated beneficiary. Practice shows us that many people do not know who was designated as beneficiary.

In addition, it is useful to map out the inheritance of your assets upon your death. Will your assets be distributed as you wish? If you wish to deviate from the legal inheritance law, a customised arrangement can be worked out.

Finally, we look at how high the inheritance taxes will be in case of an unexpected death without further planning. If these would be too high, steps can be taken to mitigate them.

Drawing up an asset balance sheet ensures that not a single detail is overlooked and that you can build up your assets optimally.

Our Bofidi experts will be pleased to help you

Our experts at Bofidi have the right tools to carry out a scan of your assets and map out your particular situation. We are happy to look with you, as an entrepreneur, at the most appropriate actions to take. Are you interested? Then don’t hesitate to contact us.

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