Private client valuations for companies, shares and complex assets
Estate planning & IHT
Valuing company assets for estate planning purposes often comes with additional complexities. It is an area in which Athla has considerable expertise, including:
- Advising high net worth investors with large, diverse investment portfolios who often continue to invest into old age, both directly and on behalf of family members – not always with their knowledge
- Understanding complex tax implications - both short and long term
- Dealing with a wide range of assets including equity, IP, property, royalties and other untypical asset classes such as art and antiques
Asset transfers and succession planning
Clients often have wide-ranging and geographically diverse interests, as well as complex business arrangements, for example, where family members are also employees or beneficiaries of company assets. In this context, we’ve carried out valuations relating to:
- Transfers of assets between family members
- Pre-nuptial and post-nuptial agreements
- Financial settlements in divorce and separation
Our valuation reports are written in plain English and designed to be easy to understand for all parties involved. Furthermore, we’re scrupulous about being impartial and even-handed, in order to minimise discord and help parties to reach a mutually acceptable outcome.
Probate
Athla supports lawyers and helps their clients understand the issues involved in complex probate situations and the potential impact of these on valuations, including:
- The ramifications of EIS and Business Relief rules
- The impact of complex arrangements in Shareholders Agreements and Articles of Association
- The value of highly volatile assets and the effect that these assets can have on the probate process
- The options available to executors and their advisers in respect of corporate actions issued during probate calendars (often the case with angel investments)
Athla has, in specific cases, been asked to:
- Provide an opinion to assist executors with the selection of assets for distribution, once probate has been proved
- Act as trustees in cases where discretionary trusts are recommended or used
- Act as a professional executor for individuals who have a large unquoted investment portfolio
Litigation support
Athla can offer a level of mediation in contentious scenarios, providing valuations that are acceptable to both sides such that settlement can be achieved.
If required, we are able to act as Single Joint Expert, under instruction from the courts.
We can also consult on other specialist aspects, including how to structure share issuances and perform light investigations to uncover investments that a party may have forgotten to declare.
