In this session of the lecture series, speaker Dr. Mohanakrishnan Raman compares how families in India and Germany organize their wealth and pass it down across generations, with a particular focus on family businesses.

In India, the “Hindu Undivided Family” (HUF) can provide a common framework for the ownership and management of family wealth and business interests. In Germany, families typically use a combination of wills, lifetime gifts, and business structures such as partnerships or corporations to plan succession and ensure the continuity of a business across generations.

These are thus different approaches: The HUF is rooted in family status and joint ownership, while German succession planning often relies on legal instruments and chosen corporate structures. Both raise practical questions: Who makes decisions, how are responsibilities passed on to the next generation, and how can family relationships be reconciled with the continuity of wealth and the business?

This event will highlight these differences and invite discussion on which arrangements best support the long-term management of family wealth.

Renowned researchers from Germany and abroad are regularly invited to the Witten Institute for Family Business (WIFU) at the University of  Witten/Herdecke (UW/H) to share insights into current research on family entrepreneurship.