The Firm

WEIDMANN LAW, specializing in legal and accounting work is based in Germany with offices in Berlin, Dresden and Hamburg and representation offices in the US (Boston, Massachusetts) and Canada (Halifax, Nova Scotia). Our clients are spanning many regions. We specialize in the fields of inheritance, wealth succession, commercial, nonprofit and tax law.

Our clients are private individuals, companies (limited liability corporations and partnerships) and nonprofit organizations and their private or public sponsors. We advise shareholders and partners on starting and running a business and on corporate and tax- related disputes.

We serve an international clientele, specifically American and Canadian clients or companies with offices and subsidiaries in Germany. To do this, we work closely with legal colleagues based in North America. We also advise clients with legal cases based in Canada, the United States (U.S.) and South Africa.

We are a comprehensive legal services and accounting firm with many years of hands-on experience in all of the above areas. You can rest assured that your German operation will be set up, managed and controlled in an effective and efficient manner.

We look forward to helping you achieve your business objectives through sound accounting, tax and legal advice.

Weidmann RAe StB

Regattastraße 152 | 12527 Berlin
Chilehaus A, Fischertwiete 2 | 20095 Hamburg
An der Berglehne 11 | 01324 Dresden

The Team

Dr. Christina Weidmann

Christina Weidmann, lawyer, is a specialist in national and international inheritance law. She worked in Ottawa for the German Embassy. She also focusses on wealth succession and charitable foundations law.
She has many years of experience representing clients on legal issues relating to inheritance and estate tax, particularly in probate court.

Dr. Ralf Kohlhepp

Dr. Ralf Kohlhepp, lawyer, German CPA and tax advisor, is a specialist in national and international tax law, worked in Massachusetts for a mid sized CPA firm and for the international tax group of PwC.
He has established long term work relationships with international private clients and corporations helping them with their European business.

Services

Corporations

Starting and Growing your European Operations

Our offices in Berlin, Dresden and Hamburg offer expert, experienced legal and financial advice in establishing, registering and operating a subsidiary in the European Union.
We help implement legal and practical business practices to cope with the international tax burden, including limiting business functions performed in the EU in order to set up transfer pricing policies that minimize your local tax burden.

Minimizing your European Tax and Compliance Burden

Value Added Taxes (VAT) are a European tax on goods and services delivered into Europe and between European member states. Our VAT has many similarities to the Canadian VAT and some to the US sales tax. However, the Europeans VAT’s are very different with respect to filing duties, VAT refunds, international rules and penalties. We help US and Canadian firms navigate through the European VAT jungle by offering full VAT services in Germany and cooperating with select legal and accounting firms all over Europe in regards of their respective individual VAT law.
U. S. taxpayers that export products can substantially minimize the U. S. tax burden on income from qualified export sales up to $10 million per year with the use of an Interest Charge Domestic International Sales Corporation “ICDISC”.

Mergers and Acquisitions

As a specialized firm, we act as your legal and tax due diligence provider for German targets. Our partners, lawyers and CPAs cover all areas needed for a full investigation into your acquisition target.

Taxes

Our tax and legal work helps individuals working in Germany on a regular basis or being married to a person receiving income from German activities.
Being an American citizen or a green card holder, you need to file tax returns in America. Working in Europe however, leads to the same responsibility in European countries.

Inheritance

aving ties with a European country and the US or Canada might lead to consequences for the applicable inheritance law. European restrictions can have an impact on matters in other countries legal systems for many reasons. For example, an estate may include German assets that have to be handled in accordance with specific regulations pertaining to German corporate law. Or, the estate may have to be administered according to US law even though it only consists of assets in Europe. Furthermore, we help American and Canadian nationals understand their rights with respect to inheritance in Germany.

US and Canadian Trusts

Trusts with assets in Europe (especially in Germany) might face extensive legal and tax issues that need to be taken care of.
Advice is essential before a trustor or beneficiary relocates to Europe. Continental European legal systems will question the legal capability of Anglo-American trusts to claim assets in Europe, if not structured properly.

Real Estate

Real Estate investment has its strings attached in each jurisdiction. Knowing the German jurisdiction in details and being able to provide with help for other European countries, we provide services for US and Canadian citizens with European Property.
Due to our detailed understanding of the implications for foreign nationals to own property in Canada, we also provide detailed administrative and legal help in structuring your property in Canada if you are from abroad.