What is a legal structure chart?

Harm Bavinck
October 8, 2025
1 minute read

What is a legal structure chart:

A structure chart of a group of legal entities is a hierarchical diagram that illustrates the ownership relationships and control hierarchy among the various companies, subsidiaries, and affiliates within a corporate group. It identifies each legal entity, its jurisdiction of incorporation, and the percentage of ownership or control held by other entities or individuals.

Typical Elements Included:

  • Ultimate Beneficiary Owner(s)
  • Parent company (holding company) at the top
  • Subsidiaries and sub-subsidiaries arranged below, showing levels of ownership
  • Equity ownership percentages (e.g., “100%,” “51%”)
  • Jurisdictions or countries of incorporation for each entity
  • Entity types, such as LLC, Ltd, Inc, GmbH, etc.
  • Lines or arrows showing ownership and control relationships

Purpose:

  • To understand corporate ownership and control within a group
  • To support compliance, tax planning, and corporate governance
  • To present the corporate structure clearly to regulators, auditors, investors, or potential buyers

Examples of terminology:

A corporate structure chart is a visual representation showing how all companies in a group are connected through ownership and control, typically arranged in a top-down hierarchy from the ultimate parent company to its subsidiaries and affiliates.

Legal entity structure chart

Widely used in corporate governance, compliance, and legal contexts. Clearly refers to legal entities and their relationships.

Corporate structure chart

Very common in business and M&A (mergers and acquisitions) — emphasizes the overall corporate group layout.

Group structure chart

Often used in accounting, auditing, and tax — refers to the structure of a group of companies.

Organizational structure chart (for entities)

Broader term that can refer to both people and entities, so used when the chart includes management lines or reporting as well.

Ownership structure chart

Used when focusing on who owns what — often used in due diligence and compliance (e.g., Ultimate Beneficial Owner tracing).

Entity relationship chart

Sometimes used internally to show legal and operational relationships among entities.

Corporate family tree

Term sometimes used in presentations or summaries — visually resembles a family tree of companies.

Shareholding structure chart

Common in regulatory filings or tax contexts — focuses on shareholding percentages and ownership layers.

Organogram or Organigram

Common in regulatory filings or tax contexts — focuses on shareholding percentages and ownership layers.

🧭 In summary:

The most precise and professional terms are:

“Legal Entity Structure Chart” or “Corporate Structure Chart.”

Both are widely understood in legal, finance, and corporate governance settings.