Private Client Services; Contentious Trusts & Estates; Estate Administration; Family Governance & Business Succession Planning; Trusts & Estate Planning

Partner

"By offering a range of governance solutions, including an innovative use of trusts for governance purposes, I have quickly established a strong reputation in the market."

Zac Lucas advises wealthy families and individuals, family offices, independent trust companies, private banks, and law and accounting firms in international private client law.

He specialises in advising wealthy Asian business families on family governance, family councils, family charters, family shareholder agreements and the creation of bespoke private trust company and governance trust structures and arrangements.

He also advises on cross-border estate planning, including advice on the creation and administration of international trusts, application of foreign succession laws and drafting and preparation of international wills.

Zac is experienced in advising on the commercial application and uses of international trusts, including unit trust, pension and insurance trusts, as well as bespoke pre-IPO special purpose trusts. He also advises on philanthropic and charitable trusts, and international trust and estate administration.

Zac is admitted to practice in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) and Anguilla, and so is ideally placed to advise on BVI and Anguillan private client law.

Zac specialises in advising wealthy Asian business families on all areas of family governance. This is often a new area for the families, as a third generation becomes involved with their business.

It's an exciting and challenging time for Zac, as the financial services and wealth management industry in Singapore reacts to this emerging client demand. As chair of the STEP Business Families Special Interest Group, Zac hopes to play a part in helping members of STEP in Singapore to better understand this area, and how best to advise their business family clients.

Working on family governance requires a mix of trust, estate and business consulting skills. No two business families are alike, and so the practice is very much geared towards educating families on issues like whether to use a family charter or a shareholder agreement or a specialist trust solution. Zac helps the family choose the option that's most appropriate to their circumstances.

By offering a range of governance solutions, including an innovative use of trusts for governance purposes, Zac has quickly established a strong reputation in the market.

Highlights

Governance instructions include some of the key issues that arise in this area, like the politics of families moving from "dining table governance" to a more structured approach.

For instance, the involvement of in-laws in the family business is almost always contentious. Some family members may take a very hard line, particularly when considering governance rules designed to deal with divorce. The resulting drafting and design considerations can quickly become complex. In a divorce, for instance, in-laws with children are generally treated differently from in-laws without children.

Estate planning is an important part of governance planning, and finding a structure that's right for the family concerned is crucial. The specific requirements of families are a challenge that I relish. In a recent instruction, a family wanted to transfer a part of the family business into a trust administered by a private trust company, but to keep the governance and control of the business separate. This required a parallel approach, which had both trust and corporate implications.

Clients

Wealthy individuals and families, family offices, international private banks, independent trust companies, law and accounting firms.

Experience

Advising wealthy individuals and families:

Creating a family office structure for a wealthy Asian family, including a n...

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