This Article is aimed towards Asian Business but there is advice that can be taken on board for the Irish Famiy Businesses out there... Enjoy! 

You've invested years of hard work to successfully build your own business and wealth, so it is natural to consider how you can successfully transfer the fruits of your labor to your heirs–the next generation of leaders and beyond—in order to carry on the family tradition. After all, if a family enterprise were a relay race, it would make no sense to lead first leg, then not provide those runners who follow with the best tools and training to keep the pace.

Unfortunately, very few Asian family businesses see the importance of having proper business or personal wealth succession plans. This is partly because succession planning is closely associated with the eventual demise of the founder, which is a taboo subject in Asian culture. Another common reason is the founder's reluctance to let go of the business, failing to see the family business enterprise as a continuum. It is not uncommon to find immensely successful entrepreneurs in their 60s who are reluctant to cede control to their children as they continue to play significant roles in driving growth of the business. In fact, by the time they pass control to their progenies, many of these founders would be in their 70s.

This preference to have direct control and ownership till the very last minute often has adverse repercussions. By then, either the founder has become physically or mentally weak, or conflicts would have arisen, with various family members bickering or having devised ways to get larger shares of the family wealth. Successful families often assume that their current harmony will perpetuate across the different generations, and this leads them to think that detailed estate and succession planning is unnecessary.

Your Strategy for Succession

As Benjamin Franklin once said, "By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail." Procrastination or failure to plan for the future may result in your wealth being jeopardised by multi-jurisdictional claims such as offshore taxes and challenges arising from family disputes. It doesn't have to be that way.

Through thoughtful succession planning, you will be able to tell your family how you would like your affairs and finances to be handled when you are no longer around. It provides clear instructions on how to distribute your assets, including the business, money, property and other elements of your estate.

It is important to identify the most competent successor early on. Trying to divide the business equally among family members will leave it more vulnerable for takeovers, especially if it is not sizeable, or if there are many children involved.

Utilizing Your Succession Team

A will is one tool you can use to ensure the type of succession you want, since it serves as a roadmap that your family and the courts can use to deal with assets according to your preferences. Without this tool, nobody can accurately second-guess your wishes, and the courts will have to fall back on intestacy laws of the deceased's domicile country to settle asset distribution.

Estate and succession planning, however, goes beyond writing a simple will. It is a holistic exercise typically involving your accountant, private banker, wealth planner and lawyer. As part of the estate planning process, this team puts together a 360-degree system to expertly guide you towards achieving the optimal fiscal benefits from your investment activities. This approach also will ensure that trusts, insurance and collective investment fund solutions can be put in place to most effectively address your family's ongoing needs.

To be meaningful, discussions with your team are likely to be intensely personal, and more than one meeting will be needed. You will need to be prepared to share confidential details on all aspects of your wealth, including the finances and outlook for the family business, an inventory of all assets, and how you would like to provide for family members. You will need to identify the financial as well as human and intellectual capital you have amassed.

You also can specify the core values that you hope to perpetuate in the ongoing family business. For example, if you would like future generations to continue to support the needy, you can specify that a percentage of your company's annual revenue be dedicated to scholarships for disadvantaged students. This is not only intrinsically altruistic, but can educate successive generations of the family to look beyond merely whether the company is paying good dividends to preserve their financial futures, but also pursuing the more long-term social and economic values of the family.

Benefiting From Trusts

Trusts can be effective instruments for distributing wealth to your children, whether they are involved in your business or not, offering several advantages:

• A trust allows you to dictate how your money is to be managed and distributed, and by whom, during your lifetime, or after death.

• It can include systematic instructions on how your heirs will benefit, as well as pre-requisites with which they must comply before they can receive their funds.

• It can include a dispute mediation mechanism to dictate how key disagreements in relation to the use of the trust assets are arbitrated.

With comprehensive legal advice, a trust can also protect wealth by mitigating any tax exposure triggered by cross-border asset acquisitions or the multiple nationalities/residences of the family members.

Planning Now for Optimal Results

A successful estate and succession plan should start early, when you are still in charge. That way, you can put the right framework in place for your heirs to set the ground rules for every successive generation – helping to ensure wealth, sustainability and family harmony.

Ultimately, the key to achieving the full benefits from wealth and succession planning lies in the execution. The best estate and succession planning strategies will still need a dedicated team with extensive global experience and on-the-ground expertise to ensure seamless execution of your objectives.

Very often we come across Asian families being serviced by trustees located in distant tax havens, with no local knowledge of the needs of Asian clients or appreciation of the Asia methodology of dispute mediation. Bank of Singapore's wealth planning specialists, on the other hand, are all accredited Asian estate practitioners with decades of experience, and an acute knowledge of the nuances and sensitivities of Asian families. These attributes enable us to proactively suggest action plans that will address any evolving family dynamic and needs, thereby avoiding escalation of family tension and confrontations where possible.

Like a relay race, ensuring continued wealth and success for those who will follow means putting together a team and strategy that will give you the best shot at success. Doing so will ensure that you and your successors are winners.

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/bankofsingapore/2015/11/16/passing-your-business-and-wealth-to-the-next-generation/#60a1ea2a1763