Recalde Law Firm, P.A. is a Florida law firm with an office in Miami, Florida. We advise on United States law only. We do not practice Mexican law, and we do not give Mexican tax or succession advice. We do not practice the law of any other country. Formation of a non-U.S. entity, and the local law of that jurisdiction, are matters for local counsel. We handle the U.S. architecture: classification, the documents a U.S. custodian and a U.S. court will read, and coordination with the family's tax adviser.
Most families who own U.S. assets are not covered by a U.S. estate or gift tax treaty. They are covered by the Code: U.S.-situs property of a nonresident who is not a citizen, a unified credit under section 2102(b), and gift-tax rules that are not the same as the estate-tax rules. A treaty, where one applies, can change situs, the credit, or both. The analysis is U.S. work. The tax treatment in the country where the family lives stays with counsel in that country.
The estate-tax engagement for a non-U.S. person is wealth structuring for foreign nationals. The broader stack is Private Wealth. This page is in English.
The treaty list, as the IRS publishes it
The IRS page "Estate & gift tax treaties (international)" is the list we use. As reviewed on November 12, 2026, it shows an estate and gift tax treaty with Australia, Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom. It shows an estate tax treaty with Finland, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, South Africa, and Switzerland. For Canada, the estate tax provisions are in the income tax treaty, which the IRS page identifies as Article XXIX B, not in a separate estate tax treaty. The page does not list a U.S. estate or gift tax treaty with Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Panama, or Peru. Families from those countries are in the Code unless some other rule applies. An older IRS statistical note has described a longer list. Where that note and the current treaty page differ, we follow the treaty page, and we re-read it when a matter opens. Treaty entry into force is not something a webpage freezes.
Each treaty is its own text. Some allocate situs by category of property. Some give the country of domicile the primary right and leave the other country real property and business property. The Form 706-NA instructions (revised September 2025) note that, at the time those instructions went to print, certain treaties — they name Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, and Switzerland — contained provisions relevant to the pro-rata credit in section 2102(b)(3)(A). That sentence is not a statement that every treaty on the IRS list works the same way, and it is not a statement that the credit equals the credit of a U.S. citizen. A treaty position that changes the Code result is disclosed with the return. The tax adviser prepares that disclosure. We identify whether a treaty is even a candidate.
Situs depends on the asset
Real property in the United States is U.S.-situs property. Stock of a domestic corporation is U.S.-situs property under section 2104(a), including shares held in a foreign brokerage account. An interest in a foreign corporation is generally not. A partnership interest is fact-specific and can look through to what the partnership holds. Life insurance proceeds on the life of a nonresident non-citizen have their own rule. Cash is not one asset. Currency, a deposit with a bank, and a debt obligation are different classes, and the Code treats classes of deposits and debt differently from real property. The general rule is in section 2105(b) and in the Form 706-NA instructions (September 2025): a deposit with a U.S. bank is generally not U.S.-situs for a nonresident who is not a citizen, if it is not effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business. Brokerage cash, money-market funds, and other debt instruments follow their own rules, so the label on the statement does not decide it. A page that flattens “U.S. accounts” into one situs answer is not a page we will write.
Gift tax is a different statute from estate tax. Section 2501(a)(2) generally excludes intangible property from the gift tax of a nonresident who is not a citizen. Real property and tangible personal property situated in the United States are not in that exclusion. A gift of U.S. real estate, or of a work of art kept in a Miami apartment, is not the same as a gift of shares. Treaty gift-tax articles, where they exist, are read on top of that rule, not instead of asking what was given.
The credit, without a citizen's figure
Section 2102(b)(1) allows a $13,000 credit against the estate tax imposed by section 2101 on a nonresident who is not a citizen. The Instructions for Form 706-NA (September 2025) describe that credit, and they describe a filing threshold of $60,000 of U.S.-situated assets, together with certain adjusted taxable gifts. The IRS frequently-asked-questions page on estate taxes for nonresidents not citizens of the United States uses the same $60,000 filing threshold. A treaty can replace that credit with a proportionate credit under section 2102(b)(3). The credit available to a U.S. citizen or domiciliary is a different provision, and it is adjusted on a different schedule. We do not publish that citizen figure here. Using the nonresident credit as if it were the citizen credit, or the reverse, is the error.
Domicile for the federal estate tax is not the same as income-tax residence, and it is not the same as a visa. A person who lives in Florida can be a U.S. domiciliary for estate tax without anyone having planned it that way. That question is for the tax adviser on the facts. It is not an immigration application. See pre-immigration planning for the income-tax side of a move, and Florida real estate for the state-law side of a home. Assets inside a trust are U.S.-situs assets inside a foreign trust.