Introduction

For more than 30 years, the focus of my practice has been responding to the needs of global families — individuals and families with connections to more than one jurisdiction. Global families face a number of unique tax and non-tax issues and often need a trusted advisor who can help them address these issues as they arise as well as to proactively plan for events that can be anticipated.

When dealing with multiple tax and legal systems, it is crucial to take advantage of planning opportunities and avoid traps for the unwary. While global families must deal with the complexity of multijurisdictional issues, significant planning opportunities (not available to non-global families) also exist. Often, clients can only take advantage of these planning opportunities if they are proactive and plan before the relevant transaction or event occurs. Similarly, avoiding traps for the unwary requires advance planning. Addressing problems after they arise is always more difficult and costly.

The Rapidly Changing Global Environment

At a time when countries around the world are concerned about the trillions of dollars of unreported funds that cross international borders, the tax and legal environment worldwide is rapidly changing and is as fluid and complex as ever. Families around the world are increasingly global and they face a host of issues that extend beyond tax and estate planning issues. Creating, preserving, managing and transferring significant wealth is as complex as ever. Significant misinformation exists and is broadly disseminated often causing families to make costly mistakes. The risks associated with making mistakes are significant and can adversely impact a family for generations.

As a trusted advisor, I help families navigate through the rapidly changing global environment. A crucial aspect of my role is to help clients understand the issues and make their own informed decisions. It is important that clients don’t act or fail to act out of ignorance or in complete and blind reliance on one or more advisors.

Relationship-Based Practice and Services

I have developed long term relationships (now spanning three generations) with families who benefit from an advisor who knows the family well, who can provide advice that is tailored to their tax and non-tax needs and whose familiarity with the family and its affairs permits a quick and effective response as events arise.

Examples of services we provide include:

• Developing global estate plans that address clients’ global needs and minimize tax and reporting burdens worldwide.

• Helping clients who have moved or plan to move from one jurisdiction to another.

• Addressing the needs of families with family members who live in different countries.

• Helping clients who are married or plan to marry someone from a different jurisdiction.

• Helping global clients comply with their tax and reporting obligations in the different jurisdictions where they have or may have had connections.

• Helping clients deal with the issues that arise if they have become non-compliant for any reason.

• Addressing the issues that arise when a family member passes away.

• Responding to audits from tax authorities.

• Helping clients who wish to make gifts across international borders.

• Advising clients who wish to invest in different jurisdictions.

• Providing consulting services that help clients prevent and handle disputes such as marital dissolutions, tax controversies, trust and estate litigation. While prevention is always preferable, the appropriate subject matter knowledge and expertise can help bring about creative and effective resolution to disputes that actually arise.

• Advising family offices who serve global families.

• Helping clients establish and administer private trust companies.

• Advising clients in relation to family governance and business succession issues.

• Helping trustees and other fiduciaries fulfill their duties especially when multijurisdictional issues arise (tax and reporting issues, minimizing the global tax burden, addressing conflicting interests, preventing and managing disputes).

• Assisting families to deal with conflict and communication issues.

• Helping families develop global philanthropy plans.

The needs of global families are broad and include legal and other services that fall outside my areas of technical expertise. As part of my role, I help clients assemble the team of advisors that can best address the relevant needs of the family as they arise. During my career, I have worked with many advisors from different parts of the world, and I have effectively coordinated resources across borders, time zones, and cultures.