Anticipating the transmission of heritage is crucial for maintaining consensus between family members. In order to reduce the risk of inheritance-related conflicts, it is highly recommendable to organize the devolution of the estate, options for protection of a spouse/protection of spousal interests, intra-family relations, and, as appropriate, anticipate and make advance arrangements to cover situations of vulnerability or inability to manage assets, or to protect family members who may present risks of vulnerability.

Gordon S. Blair has been advising international families on how to protect their estate and the interests of each generation.

We combine expertise, flexibility, and proximity, while relying, if necessary, on independent local professionals.

How to plan a succession from Monaco?

Most foreign residents in Monaco come from jurisdictions where inheritance laws are often very different from those in the Principality. These residents often also have interests and beneficiaries in quite a few jurisdictions which leads, upon the death of the testator, to international successions that should be controlled and administered from Monaco.

It is therefore essential to anticipate the constraints that could hinder the previously defined transmission objectives.

Any person who is a Monegasque resident at the time of his or her death is subject to the Monegasque inheritance laws which, in particular, provides for forced heirship with a reserved portion of the estate to go to the reserved heirs. However, it is possible to retain the inheritance laws of the country of citizenship, provided this is expressly stipulated by the testator in a will.

Although a civil law jurisdiction, Monaco also recognizes some inheritance tools, such as trusts, subject to a certain number of conditions that are important to know.

Our offer

We provide our clients solid expertise in the following areas:

• Protection of estates, inheritance laws, inheritance rights
• Organization of international successions and implementation of appropriate tools (matrimonial regimes, wills, trusts, etc.)
• Preparation of testamentary dispositions by considering the different conflict of inheritance law
• Estate administration, including executorship

In this way, we enable our clients to ensure the future safety and peace of mind of their family members, and of their other beneficiaries.