We commonly assist our client with various forms of corporate reorganizations. Corporate reorganizations are commonly undertaken for tax, operational or succession reasons.

1. Holding corporations: A holding corporation is used to hold shares in one or several other corporations. Some of the reasons holding corporations are used include asset protection, to finance one or more operating corporations, to simplify business succession and estate planning and to minimize taxes.
2. Estate Freezes: An estate freeze limits the value of a business owner's shares to limit the tax arising on the death of the shareholder. In an estate freeze, the owner of a corporation will exchange their shares in the corporation for "freeze shares". These shares are typically redeemable shares equal to the value of the corporation on the date of the freeze. Common shares are issued to the owner's successors, typically children, and, as a result, the value of any future growth in the business is realized in the common shares.
3. Family Trusts: Family trusts are created for a number of reasons including to provide a mechanism to distribute wealth to family members, tax mitigation, asset protection and to ensure privacy.
4. Rollovers: A rollover is a transaction commonly undertaken within one of the other types of reorganizations and involves the transfer of property to a corporation on a tax deferred basis.