Wealth Structuring for International Clients
Non-U.S. persons who own U.S. assets face a federal estate tax of up to 40% at death — with a $60,000 exemption instead of the $13.6 million available to U.S. citizens. The structure you use to hold U.S. real estate, brokerage accounts, and business interests is not a formality. It is the plan.
We advise non-U.S. persons and international families on the legal architecture of their U.S. investments — from the choice of holding structure to the reporting obligations that come with each. We advise on structure, not on tax outcomes; we coordinate with your tax advisers on the tax implications of each approach.
We form irrevocable trusts for non-U.S. settlors that hold U.S. real estate, brokerage accounts, and business interests outside the taxable estate. We advise on domestic vs. foreign trust classification under the court test and control test, grantor trust rules, and the ongoing reporting obligations (Forms 3520 and 3520-A) that apply to each.
Private placement life insurance (PPLI) routes investment assets into a life insurance policy structure, deferring income tax on growth inside the policy and potentially removing the death benefit from the taxable estate. We coordinate the legal structure of PPLI arrangements for qualifying high-net-worth clients and coordinate with the insurance carrier and investment manager on the investor control analysis.
The day you become a U.S. tax resident — whether through a green card, a visa, or satisfying the substantial presence test — your worldwide income and estate become subject to U.S. tax. The six to twelve months before that date are your only window to restructure assets, reposition trusts, and make gifts without triggering U.S. tax on the transferred value. We help clients plan before that window closes.
Foreign persons selling U.S. real property face FIRPTA withholding at 15% of the gross sale price — not of the gain. We advise on holding structures that minimize this exposure, analyze exemptions, and coordinate with your accountant on the withholding certificate process for transactions where the realized gain is less than the withholding amount.
When a foreign trust holds U.S. assets or has U.S. beneficiaries, U.S. reporting obligations apply. When the trust's settlor becomes a U.S. tax resident, the trust may need to migrate to a domestic structure to avoid punitive throwback tax treatment on distributions. We advise on the compliance obligations and the migration mechanics.
Many LATAM families hold U.S. assets through offshore holding structures — Cayman, BVI, or Panama entities — often set up without U.S. legal review. We advise on how those structures interact with U.S. estate tax, income tax, and reporting rules, and coordinate with offshore counsel to bring them into compliance across jurisdictions.
U.S. citizens and permanent residents receive a federal estate tax exemption of $13.6 million (2024 figure). A non-resident alien who dies owning U.S.-situs assets — which includes U.S. real property, stock in U.S. corporations, and U.S.-located bank deposits — receives a $60,000 exemption. Everything above that threshold is subject to U.S. federal estate tax at rates up to 40%. This is not a hypothetical risk. It is the legal reality for every foreign national who owns property in Miami, Brickell, or anywhere else in the United States.
The solution is structural: hold U.S. assets in a form that removes them from the taxable estate. That typically means an irrevocable trust, an insurance wrapper, a properly structured foreign entity, or some combination of those approaches — depending on the type of asset, the client's home jurisdiction, the family's immigration plans, and the tax treatment in both countries. There is no universal answer, and the right structure requires analysis, not a template.
The critical timing constraint is pre-immigration planning. Once a client becomes a U.S. tax resident, restructuring existing assets requires navigating gift tax rules, transfer tax analysis, and potential income tax gain recognition. The planning is much simpler and less costly before the residency trigger. Clients who are considering a U.S. visa or relocation should begin the structural analysis before filing — not after.
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