What is Conveyancing a Business by Shared Donation (Part 1)

Summary

Step 1: Evaluate the company
Step 2: Choose between temporary or lifetime dismemberment
Step 3: Don’t harm other heirs in reserve
Step 4: Consult a notary

An entrepreneur has the option of starting to transfer his business during his lifetime, by way of bare ownership donation. He can thus retain the usufruct and remain at the helm of his company.

The very configuration of the shared gift is equivalent to an advance on inheritance, which makes it possible not to harm his heirs.

The value of the company must first be assessed and then a professional in conveyancing must be consulted to dismember it. The same notary will make sure that the donor’s beneficiaries are not prejudiced, and will proceed with the shared donation.

Good to know: the donation rights are calculated on the value of the bare ownership received, and not on the total value of the company.

For example, a father and a mother own a company valued at 1 million dollars. They make a donation-sharing the usufruct to one of their children for $400,000. The donation rights will therefore only apply to $400,000 and not to $1 million.

Important: the interposition of a company does not hinder the inheritance of a donation. In the case of a gift made by the deceased to one of his heirs through the interposition of a company in which the latter is a partner, the ratio is due to the estate in proportion to the capital he holds.

1. Evaluate the company

The estimate of the value of a company must be supported by a balance sheet. The heir is therefore obliged to entrust this task to a chartered accountant.

Determine the number of assets

The professional in charge of the company’s valuation will determine the value of the movable and immovable property:

– offices, warehouses or store walls if they are owned by the company;
– vehicles, machinery, computer equipment and furniture;
– commercial leases, investments, receivables, possible shareholdings in other companies;
– current contracts, customers or goodwill.

Determine the number of liabilities.

The accountant will deduct from the amount of the assets:

– movable and immovable debts;
– debts to certain suppliers;

Divide the result by the number of shares

The value of the company thus obtained will be divided by the number of share units. This gives the value of the shares owned by each partner.

Good to know: if the business owner created the partnership after his or her marriage, and if he or she is married under the regime of community of acquests, the spouse owns half of the shares. The spouse will therefore also have to make a shared gift if he or she wishes to participate in the transfer. If another person is associated with the company’s capital, he or she may also make a shared gift to the donee. Indeed, it is possible to make a gift to a person outside the circle of beneficiaries.

2. Choose between a temporary or lifetime dismemberment

The notarial deed separating the usufruct from the bare ownership is called a dismemberment. When the dismemberment ends, the bare owner recovers the usufruct and thus becomes the full owner. Here, a specialized law firm can help you out.

Consider the temporary dismemberment

When a dismemberment is temporary, the bare owner will recover the usufruct on a given date.

This solution will be preferable for the business owner who has planned to retire on a specific date. It will suffice to fix the end of the dismemberment on that date.

Note: when the usufructuary is heir to the bare owner, he will receive the usufruct in the event of the premature death of the bare owner.

This post will now continue in part 2 in our following publication. Stay posted and remember to leave your comments below.