ERM Private

The ERM Private Client team advises individuals and family offices on private wealth structuring, preservation of wealth and tax planning around life changing events. We have experience representing international high net-worth families and we are experts in clients' estate planning and preservation needs.

Our team is a unique group of international lawyers, coming from an array of disciplines. Our lawyers have experience from top international law firms and are dual qualified, speaking French, German, English and Hebrew. Our Private Client department is a stand-alone department, adhering to the highest industry levels of privacy, discreetness and professionalism.
 
The Private Client team is headed by ERM Partner Yair Benjamini, who is an expert in Israeli and international tax law, and has vast experience in wealth structuring and asset protection. Yair and his team are dedicated to finding creative solutions for the client's individual needs.  

Migration

Upon relocation, our international clients require bespoke advice relating to the effects of migration on their assets. Wealthy individuals, who relocate to Israel or abroad, require careful tax planning in order to fully take advantage of various tax breaks and structuring opportunities, while at the same time, avoiding unnecessary exposure. Failure to plan properly can be detrimental to a client's estate. 

Personal Investments 

We advise on the structuring of investments in financial instruments, real estate, equity and debt products. Our lawyers are experienced at negotiating and drafting contracts. We look at whether your investment should be held directly, through a corporate, a trust, a partnership or other complex combination. As lawyers, we do not give the client financial advice and are, therefore, at an advantage to objectively be able to consider how investments should be structured and taxed efficiently.  

Trusts

We work with families around the world and advise on all aspects of wealth structuring by using our international trusts in offshore jurisdictions and we coordinate the set-up of the structure in order to suit the client's needs. We advise on the tax treatment of a trusts legal status, and on the tax implications of the distribution of assets out of the trust. 

Generational transfer of wealth

Our Private Client team focuses on finding efficient vehicles to allow for the efficient transfer of wealth from generation to generation. Wealth planning and preservation are at the core of our practice and compliment the other services we provide in the realm of inheritance. 

Family offices 

We act as counsel and legal advisors to family offices. We work with the family office to develop multi-generational legal structures. We work with the family office to understand the family and its planning objectives and dispositive goals. 

Tax

As well as structuring, we advise our clients on their tax compliance and reporting requirements. We also provide our private clients with legal opinions on the ‘health’ of their structure and tax compliance status. A legal opinion on this matter is often required by accountants and family offices. 

We provide US citizens with advice regarding their disclosure requirements and the status of the law. Our US tax team members have experience working at top New York firms and at the IRS, and are well versed in providing advice to American citizens living in Israel or planning to move to Israel.  

We can also provide useful tax advice to investment managers on how their investment structure may affect the investor.      

Life Changing Events

Our team aims to accompany the client through his or her life changing events including marriage, births, death and divorce. 

All of these milestones require intricate legal advice from lawyers, who not only have the requisite legal knowledge, but also who know the client and his needs, and who rest their reputation on an adherence to high levels of secrecy. Our Private Client team specialises in drafting wills and executing probate orders for our private clients. We advise the client about all potential tax and other implications surrounding matrimony, including drafting pre-nuptial agreements. We have a special relationship with a renowned Israeli family law office which handles matters relating to divorce for our private clients. We accompany the client through the process. 

Asset Protection

We help clients structure their wealth in order to protect assets from avoidable creditors and liability. Exposure and risk are the natural accompaniments to wealth and we specialize in analysing and limiting these challenges for the client. In particular, trusts can be used to provide the client with efficient ways of holding assets safely.  

Luxury Assets

We advise in relation to luxury assets including yachts, private aircraft and art collections. How these assets are owned is important to their tax treatment. We assist our clients in all stages of the purchase, registration, licensing and insurance matters relating to such assets, from the negotiation of contract to the financing of the purchase. We also advise on the mortgaging and provision of security for such assets.