FAMILY SERVICES

Do you need to get a deal done, but you’re not sure what the value of the business is? Negotiations are hard enough as they are, let alone when you go in blind. Sometimes you really don’t need a valuation, you just need some advice on approach. But sometimes a valuation is absolutely essential. Think about a messy divorce, or a shareholder split. Emotions get in the way of being able to strike a deal, and you need someone to just tell you what the answer is…

Setting up a new company is an exciting venture, but we are also aware that it can be daunting at the same time. Especially if it’s your first one. Get past the hardest part, which is probably choosing the company name, then you need to reserve the name and register the company. Next you want to look at banking services, tax registration, insurances, ACC and accounting and recording systems. Even job descriptions and employment contracts – something that often gets forgotten about in the set-up process…

There are lots of points during litigation that you might need to pull together evidence. You might not even be going through litigation yet, but just have a risk of going to court. You might be trying to resolve it yourself or with a lawyer, but need some advice that may become evidence later. Or you might already be in the legal process and need an accountant or analyst as an expert, who can write an expert opinion you’ll use for evidence…

Managing wealth—and life—often becomes a demanding full-time job. A solution to getting your time back can be as easy as having help when and where you need it. Gilligan Sheppard’s Family Office can help you ensure that management of wealth, life and your legacy is taken care of. Our Family Office is a personalised support service that’s privately controlled and dedicated to supporting high-net-worth individuals and families…

If you’re going through a relationship property dispute, you’ll know that even though you’re fighting over money (or your other assets), there’s more than money to think about. When a business is involved, it’s even more complicated. Having an angry ex-spouse is never fun, but however irrational they were prior to the split, they might be a whole lot more irrational now. You might be millions of dollars apart on what you think a business is worth, especially when there are other assets in the mix…

Getting into business is a lot like getting married, and it’s pretty similar when things go wrong. A lot gets lost in the emotional fallout of a shareholder dispute – you might feel hard-done by, there might be ruined friendships and wasted time. You might not even be on speaking terms. It’s pretty hard to strike a deal to part ways when emotions are running high and there’s money involved. You might need a valuation, but you probably don’t. You probably just need some help negotiating, and cutting through the emotion…

There are a lot of tricky questions around succession, especially when the business is really dear to you. Maybe you’re unsure who’s going to take the reins? Or do you have someone lined up already but not sure how much to sell for? Do you give them a discount? Do you wonder if you need to keep working in the business, but aren’t sure how that would affect price? The crux of the decision is making sure it gets into the right hands and gets looked after properly…

Many advisors who offer support to those on the journey, have not travelled it themselves, and absent having travelled the journey personally or on a very intimate basis with those that have, the advice is theoretical and often hard to rationalise based on the unique position the wealthy find themselves in. GS did not start its journey in 1985 with any real knowledge of the pain, trauma, and opportunity that wealth creates…