Private Wealth

Our Private Wealth Group have acted for internationally mobile individuals and their families for generations.

We advise on immigration and citizenship applications for high-net-worth individuals alongside other practical issues such as renting or buying a home in Ireland, establishing private banking relationships in Ireland, obtaining fully comprehensive healthcare insurance in Ireland, and education consulting.

The Group has the depth of expertise necessary to provide sophisticated cross-border legal and tax planning services to clients who are relocating to Ireland for the short or long term.  We address the impact of Irish tax residence on personally held wealth (e.g. where assets are held in one’s personal name) and structured wealth (e.g. where assets are held through structures, such as trusts, partnerships, or companies).  We regularly advise on the favourable remittance basis of taxation for non-domiciled individuals and pre-entry planning that can be done in this regard and are expert on the application of anti-avoidance provisions of Irish tax law to non-Irish resident trusts and other structures.

Our Private Wealth Group has specialist expertise in advising US citizens, who remain within the Federal income tax net notwithstanding their departure from the US and therefore need to ensure that their wealth is held in a manner which is fit for purpose on both sides of the Atlantic.  Together with US advisers, we work in a seamless manner to deliver comprehensive and integrated advice.

For further information in this regard, please view our brochure here.

Our Private Wealth Group has considerable expertise advising high-net-worth individuals, family offices, non-resident / resident trusts and other asset holding structures on a myriad of Irish income tax, capital gains tax and capital acquisitions tax matters.

The Private Wealth Group regularly represents clients before the Irish Revenue Commissioners in relation to tax enquiries and the regularisation of historic tax obligations.  The Group also has significant experience appealing tax assessments on behalf of clients to the Irish Tax Appeals Commission.

Our Private Wealth Group is made up of solicitors, chartered tax advisers and trust and estate practitioners, and the Group is therefore uniquely placed to provide high-net-worth individuals with tailored estate plans, which achieve their wishes regarding succession while mitigating exposure to tax.

The Private Wealth Group regularly advise and implement a range of estate planning solutions for clients, including the making of lifetime gifts, the use of limited partnerships, the creation of discretionary trusts and other asset-holding structures, and Will-based planning to structure the transition of wealth to the next generation.

The Group also advise families with foreign assets on estate planning issues in conjunction with their overseas advisors.  This requires a sophisticated understanding of the way foreign marital property regimes, tax and succession law rules operate.

Our Private Wealth Group frequently assist trustees, private banks and institutional clients on legal and tax issues concerning their private wealth / client business.

For Irish financial institutions, including banks, insurers, and investment houses, we conduct reviews of internal policies, procedures, and precedents to help such institutions optimise their dealings with private clients.  For example, we have advised several of Ireland’s largest banks and insurers on:

• the establishment of trust accounts for minor children;
• implementation of policies for dealing with the executors of deceased clients and releasing monies / assets belong to deceased clients; and
• the application of Irish inheritance tax to deposit accounts.

We also provide training to institutional clients on legislative changes affecting their business, such as anti-money laundering / beneficial ownership legislation, and assisted decision making capacity legislation.

The Group has extensive expertise advising offshore trustees with connectivity in Ireland and for more information in this regard, please see our brochure here.

Our Private Wealth Group advise on the acquisition, disposal and letting of high value residential properties, from city apartments to country estates, and has acted in some of the largest residential property transactions in Ireland

We deliver tax advice to consider the merits of undertaking tax structuring in respect of property acquisitions in Ireland.  The Group is experienced in handling tax driven property transactions for international private clients and institutional clients, such as trustees, for example, through the use of non-resident corporate vehicles or regulated funds.

We support our clients through all steps of the process, for example, liaising with foreign tax advisors, local authorities, and the Irish Revenue Commissioners to ensure that all regulatory and tax issues are effectively addressed, and co-ordinating experts such as surveyors and conservational architects.

Our Private Wealth Group regularly advise on the procedural formalities of the probate process and the subsequent administration of an estate.

The Group is experienced in handling complex cross-border estates of significant value, where assets and beneficiaries are located in multiple jurisdictions.

We have broad expertise advising on tax issues associated with the administration of an estate, for both executors and beneficiaries, including relief from double-taxation in the context of cross-border estates.

Our Private Wealth Group also advise on contentious probate matters, such as Succession Act 1965 claims, the removal / appointment of executors, and allegations of undue influence.

Our Private Wealth Group advise individual philanthropists, charities, and other not-for-profit organisations on a wide range of legal and tax issues including appropriate structures to facilitate their philanthropic or charitable endeavours, (such as charitable trusts and foundations, charitable companies and donor advised funds) and available tax reliefs.

The Group advise international charities establishing operations in Ireland on a variety of issues, including registering with the Charities Regulatory Authority of Ireland (“CRA”) and ensuring that they meet their annual statutory compliance obligations once registered.   We also advise charities on obtaining charitable tax status with the Irish Revenue Commissioners.

We are also adept at a range of applications to the CRA’s Charity Services Committee, including cy-près applications.

Our Private Wealth Group have vast experience assisting individuals and their families, investment advisors, financial services providers and trustees in dealing with the implications of reduced or impaired mental capacity.

The Group works closely with other professionals, including medical experts, to provide holistic support with a view to ensuring that the needs and interests of vulnerable individuals are protected.  We regularly advise on the creation of the following:

• general powers of attorney;
• registration of enduring powers of attorney under the Powers of Attorney Act 1996;
• enduring powers of attorney under the Assisted Decision Making (Capacity) Act 2015;
• advance healthcare directives;
• decision making assistance agreements;
• co-decision making agreements;
• decision making representative orders;
• special trusts for permanently incapacitated individuals and applicable tax reliefs.