Annie Chen is a wills, estates, trusts and corporate lawyer in Vancouver advising clients on wealth management, estate planning and personal and corporate tax planning.
Annie works collaboratively with clients and their advisors and focuses on providing creative, practical and cost-effective personal planning and corporate planning structures to meet clients' planning/succession needs and objectives while minimizing risks and taxes.
A trusted advisor to personal and corporate clients, including private business owners, Annie takes the time needed to understand client wishes and circumstances, including family dynamics/relationships. She steers clear of "one size fits all" planning, establishes strong relationships with clients, and tailors her services to meet the needs of her clients, recognizing that many of them work with multiple advisors and, for some family businesses, multiple generations.
Annie has extensive experience working with Mandarin speaking clients, including immigrants and newcomers to Canada. Having immigrated to Canada from Taiwan at age four, Annie understands the challenges newcomers to Canada face as they learn English, adapt to a new culture and maneuver through our laws/systems and is able to effectively educate clients on Canadian laws/systems and assist them in overcoming the language and cultural barriers they face in Canada.
Business/Corporate Law and Succession Planning
- Advise on and structure corporate structures for private business owners and professionals
- Design and perform corporate reorganizations with clients' other financial and insurance advisors
- Structure businesses to facilitate succession planning and clients' goals by minimizing/reducing taxes, applying creditor protection, and facilitating transitions to the next generation or the sale of a business
- Provide practical corporate law advice to owner-managers, including contract and employment/contractor issues
- Design and draft Shareholders' Agreements
- Structure and implement tax-efficient cash flow and protective structures for businesses
Personal Estate and Wealth Planning
- Design and implement creative, customized personal estate and wealth planning for clients to reflect the clients' wishes and achieve their goals
- Design and draft customized Wills and multi-jurisdictional Wills and insurance trust planning
- Set up and work with inter-vivos trusts (Family Trusts, Disability Trusts, Alter-Ego/Joint Partner Trusts and Bare Trusts)
- Work with clients' US advisors in designing practical and effective solutions for US-Canada cross-border estate planning, including ownership of real property in the US
- Implement incapacity planning by drafting Powers of Attorney, and drafting Representation Agreements, Advanced Directives and Living Wills
- Draft and prepare Marriage (Prenuptial)/Cohabitation Agreements
International Planning
- Advise clients with families located internationally on their domestic (Canadian) and international planning needs and structures, including offshore trust and corporate structures.
Estate & Trust administration
- Obtain Grants of Probate and Letters of Administration
- Provide estate and trust administration legal assistance and advice
