Message for family businesses at corporate law seminar

Legal contracts and agreements are as important in family businesses as they are in general business, delegates at a corporate seminar heard yesterday.

The seminar, entitled Corporate Law and Tax Issues Facing SMEs in Ireland, was the latest in a series of corporate seminars being run by O’Donnell Sweeney Solicitors.

It examined the need for shareholders in SMEs, particularly family businesses, to regulate relationships and explored how to introduce family members to the business. O’Donnell Sweeney’s Gerard Ryan said:

“There is a requirement for family-run business in Ireland to put in place appropriate legal agreements and to formalise relationships prior to setting up in business or to taking on family members as staff or introducing them as shareholders.”

“Setting up a family business as a private limited company allows for smooth succession in the case of a death in the business and flexibility in the transfer of assets to the next generation,” he said.