Structuring and expanding a physicians' practice partnership

Three physicians ran a commercially successful practice partnership together, organised as a GbR (Gesellschaft buergerlichen Rechts — German civil-law partnership). The practice was to be substantially expanded and strategically developed: additional specialties were to be added, and the medical structure aligned long-term with a larger model of care.

The existing GbR carried one major risk: every partner was personally liable with their private assets. As the organisation grew, that structure no longer matched the economic scale of the practice. At the same time, questions came up about asset protection, possible divorce scenarios and the long-term security of the partners' families in the event of an inheritance case (Erbfall).

Together with the physicians, I first worked out a strategic business plan for developing a medical care centre (MVZ — Medizinisches Versorgungszentrum, German outpatient medical-care centre). On that basis the full corporate-law and tax restructuring was planned and executed. Specialised partners from my network came into play — in particular notaries and lawyers for the corporate-law structuring.

In parallel I sat in on the conversations with the physicians' families. The aim was to develop individual solutions for wills, advance care directives (Vorsorgevollmacht) and the long-term asset structure so that entrepreneurial risk would not feed straight through to the families' private assets.

The end result was a medical care centre (MVZ) now covering 11 specialties, organised across several physician companies inside a clearly structured corporate architecture. Each partner additionally received their own holding (Holding — German tax-optimised holding company under § 8b KStG).

The MVZ was later successfully sold. The three original founders have since stayed on only in an advisory role. For their families, the structure together with the sale created a long-term financial safety net across generations.