Family Business and Wealth Management

Personal and closely held business planning

Wealth structuring and family business planning often present complex and sometimes unexpected legal, tax and compliance issues, particularly when you’re globally mobile. DLA Piper’s Family Business and Wealth Management team brings a holistic view to tackling the issues affecting you, your family office and your commercial interests.

We’ll help you manage your legal and regulatory risks across jurisdictions, whatever sectors you’re in. With deep experience of advising corporates, we know the global business, regulatory and tax landscape. That means we can devise solutions with the bigger picture in mind.

“DLA Piper offers very high-level, practical and accessible legal services.”

Chambers High Net Worth rankings – Private Wealth Law, 2025

High net-worth individuals (HNWIs) and family businesses face a complex, global compliance environment, which demands expert advice.

Our dedicated team helps HNWIs and family businesses to manage their legal and regulatory risks, wherever they arise. We offer pragmatic, innovative, cross-practice support that’s tailored to your needs, and to those of your enterprises, family office and wealth management advisors.
We can advise you on a whole range of issues, including succession and tax planning, business investment, disputes, reputation management and sustainability.

We’re a responsive and empathetic team, with a global footprint spanning a variety of sectors. Through a single point of contact, we’ll implement your strategies and solutions across all necessary jurisdictions. Our local teams and partners will help as you interact with the authorities in different countries. And they’ll work closely with your banks, financial institutions and investment advisors in each market.

Our lawyers draw on our vast experience of working with corporate enterprises. So the solutions they recommend will consider not just your compliance requirements, but also the bigger picture – taking in the wider implications for you, your family and your business interests.

Experience

Advised an entrepreneur on the acquisition of a major Alternative Investment Fund Manager (AIFM), involving complex analysis of double tax treaty rules; mutual agreement procedure outcomes; and the structuring of the acquisition.
Helped a family to structure a non-domiciled family trust, following the sale of their manufacturing group. Advised on double tax treaty considerations regarding the trust’s residence; direct and indirect tax on trusts; and tax on distributions.
Assisted a family with the sale of their healthcare company. Managed all private tax and wealth issues, and recommended an innovative tax regime solution for the transfer of minority shareholdings to an existing family holding.
Supported the structuring of stock-option plans and employment packages for the senior executives of Italian and international groups, in the context of their international relocation.
Offered advice on trust and succession structure for several high-net-worth families. Advised on complex tax-residency and income-tax issues surrounding the transfer of residence under Italy’s new resident tax regime.
Managed complex relocation processes, and the related tax and wealth planning matters, for several high-net-worth individuals moving to Italy. Secured a positive ruling for them from the country’s Revenue Agency.
Acted as court-appointed guardians for a series of trusts, whose trustees and beneficiaries wished to form a joint investment fund. At the court and parties’ request, adopted a greater role than usually required of a guardian.
Represented trustees serving as general partners of operating entities conducting national-level, real-estate developments. Advised on day-to-day business operations and the trusts’ administration.
Supported a family with succession planning for closely held corporations, which demanded skilled handling of family and personal issues, as well as legal and business expertise. Reached a working arrangement the whole family was comfortable with and considered fair.
Helped to create numerous private charitable foundations and supporting organizations, many of which we continue to administer.
Assisted the restructuring of family trusts to optimize the different tax situations for family lines with and without grandchildren (related to generation-skipping transfer tax).