Owners of a family company – Incorporation of ownership

Owners of a family company – Incorporation of ownership

We offer comprehensive advice in the fields of wealth management and marital property and inheritance law, combining tax aspects and family-law related risk management.

As a trusted partner for owner-entrepreneurs, family-owned businesses, and wealthy private individuals, our clients enjoy seamless, one-stop access to all the legal advice they need, ensuring that the strategic understanding of how they want their wealth to be managed remains crystal clear at all times.

When it comes to planning a business succession and the related ownership strategy, our support helps you identify how to pass on your business to the next generation in a viable way that respects the family’s wishes. We draft documentation under family law and contract law to prepare for situations where life doesn’t go according to expectations. We also update such documentation after a business transaction if the seller has acquired a substantial fortune as a result of the sale.

Advising estates on matters related to inheritance and estate taxation is another area of our expertise. We assist parties to an estate in resolving inheritance disputes and settling issues that are open to interpretation. We will also help you with taxation issues by applying for preliminary rulings and other pre-emptive guidance from the Tax Administration and by representing you in potential tax disputes. In tax-related administrative procedures, we screen all matters in advance to avoid any risk of criminal proceedings that may arise due to factors such as reporting errors.

We also offer support for all your other business legal needs from corporate governance to M&A and beyond. Your trusted personal advisor will act as your single point of contact and compile a team of experts with comprehensive legal insight and close contacts with business life to match your specific needs. We also work in close collaboration with major banks and asset management companies.

Our clients appreciate our straightforward and practical approach and our ability to explain legalese in plain language. Our expertise has also received international recognition: Chambers High Net Worth Finland Guide 2024 has ranked our team in Band 1 for Private Wealth Law.

Our services include

  • Wealth management planning
  • Planning and execution of ownership structures
  • Structuring and carrying out succession in a family business
  • Marital property and inheritance law related tax matters
  • Applications for preliminary ruling and other pre-emptive guidance
  • Tax litigation

Latest references

We assisted eQ Community Properties Fund in the sale of two healthcare properties to a fund managed by Northern Horizon. The properties have a total floor area of approximately 3,500 square meters. The two properties are located in Espoo and Lahti. The Espoo asset was completed in 2018 and the Lahti asset was completed in 2023. Both assets are operated by Attendo, the leading care provider in the Nordic region.
Case published 9.5.2025
We successfully represented BMW in an exceptionally long dispute over whether the spare rims sold by the defendant and the hub caps included in them infringed BMW’s trademark and design rights. The Market Court found that the sign used by the defendant caused a likelihood of confusion with BMW’s trademarks. The defendant had used the sign on the hub caps and in the marketing of the hub caps and rims, leading the Market Court to find that the defendant had infringed BMW’s trademark rights. The defendant admitted to infringing BMW’s Community design but denied the related injunction claim. However, the Market Court found that there was no particular reason to refrain from issuing an injunction. The Market Court prohibited the defendant from continuing to infringe BMW’s trademarks and Community design and ordered the defendant to alter or destroy the products and marketing materials that infringed BMW’s rights. Furthermore, the Market Court ordered the defendant to pay BMW EUR 70,000 in reasonable compensation and EUR 80,000 in damages for the trademark infringements, as well as EUR 7,000 in reasonable compensation and EUR 8,000 in damages for the design right infringement. The amounts can be considered exceptionally high in Finland. Additionally, the Market Court ordered the defendant to pay a significant portion of BMW’s legal costs with interest on late payment. In its decision of 11 March 2025, the Supreme Court of Finland did not grant the defendant leave to appeal, and also decided that there was no need to seek a preliminary ruling from the Court of Justice of the European Union. Thus, the Market Court’s judgements (MAO:494/18 ja 517/2023) are final. In addition to the main dispute, BMW demanded in a separate proceeding that one of the defendant’s trademark registrations be revoked. A total of three separate legal proceedings were conducted in the Market Court regarding the revocation. The defendant’s trademark registration was ultimately revoked.
Case published 9.5.2025
We are advising DNA Plc in brand protection and intellectual property enforcement matters globally. Our intellectual property team manages DNA’s global trademark portfolio, including registration, prosecution, opposition and enforcement. We also advise DNA in questions concerning consumer and marketing law, unfair competition, social media, domain names and cybersquatting. DNA Plc is one of Finland’s leading telecommunication companies. DNA offers connections, services and devices for homes and workplaces, contributing to the digitalisation of society. The company has approximately 3.7 million subscriptions in its fixed and mobile communications networks. In 2024, DNA’s total revenue was EUR 1,100 million, and the company employs about 1,600 people around Finland. DNA is part of Telenor Group.
Case published 7.5.2025
Castrén & Snellman’s Attorney Christer Svartström acted as the administrator in the restructuring proceedings of Foodiq Oy, which began on 11 March 2024. Foodiq is a unique future food focused company that develops and produces plant and milk-based products for both the private and public sectors. The company’s largest shareholder is a Swedish investment company focusing on FoodTec, Nicoya AB. The majority of creditors approved the draft restructuring programme in expedited proceedings after restructuring proceedings that lasted just under a year. The District Court of Helsinki affirmed the restructuring programme including the one-day payment programme on 10 March 2025 and appointed Attorney Christer Svartström as the supervisor of the programme. In cooperation with the parties, they found an effective and quick restructuring solution for the company, avoiding a long-term programme and allowing the company to focus on its core business. The restructuring programme was financed by investments made by the company’s investors. At the same time, the one-day programme provided a better outcome for creditors compared to a longer programme. The implementation of the restructuring programme ended successfully on 28 March 2025.
Case published 6.5.2025