Estate planning and pension planning
Estate planning starts with a detailed wealth inventory. You then use suitable techniques to protect and expand your assets. Finally, carefully thought-out inheritance planning ensures a smooth transfer. Throughout this process, our advisers provide tailor-made guidance.
Drawing up a wealth inventory
A wealth inventory is a list of all your real estate and movable property. Our advisers help you to compile this list accurately, looking at your:
- real estate (e.g. houses and land)
- business (e.g. shares in your family company, or a sole proprietorship)
- bank accounts
- pension provisions
- investment portfolios
- art or other collections
- any debts
The gift inventory is also part of your wealth inventory. It gives you an overview of the lifetime gifts you have already made, so that you can see how the balance stands between your heirs at any time.
Expand and protect your assets
Based on your inventory, our advisers look for the best techniques to expand and protect your assets. These techniques include:
Cash flow planning
With a thorough cash flow analysis, we give you a clear picture of your personal liquid assets. This also enables us to calculate the impact on your standard of living if you want to take early retirement or make a gift.
Pension advice
If you are self-employed, the statutory pension is rarely enough to maintain your standard of living. Get in touch with our specialists for:
- the preparation of a retirement plan
- advice and assistance regarding statutory and supplementary pensions (PSPSE, IPC, pension savings, long-term savings, etc.)
- end-of-career simulations
- real estate financing through supplementary pension accrual
Property planning
Investing in property is a common technique for expanding your assets. We can advise you on this from a financial, legal and tax angle.
Reduced gift or inheritance tax
By structuring your family or non-family business in the right way – from both a tax and legal viewpoint – you can transfer it with reduced gift or inheritance tax. Your personal adviser will look with you at whether your business is eligible or not.
We perform regular financial projections for you with our tool VGD Pax Familia, so that we can adjust your planning whenever necessary.
The new inheritance law since 2018
On 1 September 2018, Belgian inheritance law and inheritance tax underwent significant changes. Inheritance tax rates and matrimonial property law were modified, and it is now also possible to conclude general and occasional inheritance agreements.
Advice on inheritance planning
When you retire, it’s time to enjoy what you have built up during your career. But what about the future of your family business and your other assets? How do you ensure your family’s peace of mind?
You can contact our specialists if you have questions or would like advice on:
- cohabitation and marriage contracts
- wills
- life insurance
- gifts
- gift tax
- inheritance tax
- making a phased transfer in a family business
Do you have any further questions regarding the planning of your estate or pension? You can always contact our estate planners!
Related news
Since the modernisation of inheritance law, more and more people have been making their wills. The modernised inheritance law gives you more freedom to settle your estate, and we are all eager to make use of it.
It’s a good idea to take action while you’re still alive, because inheritance tax remains very high. We take stock of the new inheritance law with Evert Huyge - wealth planner at VGD.
A gift with reservation of usufruct is a popular inheritance planning tool. It allows the giver to retain control of and income from the gifted assets while ensuring that the capital value is transferred to the next generation.
In addition to the changes in the context of inheritance law and inheritance tax, the changes in matrimonial property law will also come into effect on 1 September 2018. Our wealth planners and legal experts describe the key changes.
There has been plenty of legislative activity in the past year; 1 September 2018 is the big day when the changes to inheritance law and inheritance tax will finally take effect. Our wealth planners describe the key changes.
Since the summer agreement, as from 1 January 2018, every shareholder can reclaim the withholding tax that he has paid on dividends from shares up to a maximum of 640 euros via the annual tax return. This gives him a tax benefit of 192 euros.
Two judgments of the Court of Appeal (Ghent and Antwerp) have shown that the distinction between the free provision of a dwelling by a natural person or a legal person when calculating the benefit is unconstitutional.
On this subject, on 15 May 2018 the Federal Public Service Finance published a circular (2018/C/57) on the flat-rate estimate of benefits in kind for the provision of housing to employees or managers free of charge.