Bertold Schmidt-Thomé presented the issue of the magazine "Stiftung & Sponsoring", which he designed, at the Pergamon Palais in Berlin. dtb rechtsanwälte from Berlin and TIGGES Rechtsanwälte from Düsseldorf founded the PROMISSUM cooperation network to offer specialised succession advice. Together, the topic of "inheriting and bequeathing" was highlighted in the issue of the "Rote Seiten".
Dying and inheriting brings much sorrow" - so goes an old German proverb. In order to disprove this proverb, good guidance is needed per se when it comes to estates. Particular challenges arise from succession issues in companies. Complex circumstances, sensitive issues and lack of communication often result in conflict constellations that require not only legal expertise but also psychological support.
Why these counselling approaches complement each other and why it is worthwhile to keep an eye on both is explained in this supplement in the interview "Very different systems collide" from a psychological and legal perspective, as well as in a specialist article from the counselling perspective on the topic of the "psychology of inheritance".
If there are no successors in family businesses, the question of future viability arises. In some cases, setting up a foundation would be a good way to secure the inheritance in the long term. The fact that the desire to establish a foundation alone is not enough is already evident from the fact that there are many foundation models. You can find out which foundation models could be considered in the context of a company succession and which tax aspects should be taken into account in the article "Foundations in company succession".
Based on a best case, the artist Leiko Ikemura tells how the establishment of her Ikemura Foundation already gives her artistic freedom for her work - and at the same time the security that the care of her oeuvre will outlast her lifetime.
All these topics can only be touched upon in this issue of the Roten Seiten. Nevertheless, the editors and the contributors to this supplement hope that even this outline will meet with the interest of the readers and thus stimulate further reflection, questions and other exchanges. If it helps one or the other to avoid grief in connection with their own succession arrangements, their own inheritance, their own foundation concept, it would have fulfilled their expectations.
The realisation that the topics of inheritance and bequest are complex and require diverse, special competences and perspectives and are often best dealt with in a team, has encouraged us as the publishers of this supplement to found a network for coordinated succession counselling with PROMISSUM. You will find an excerpt of our counselling approach, our convictions and approach in the articles we have written in this supplement.
