By Dennis L. Nerland, Shea Nerland LLP
A Family Limited Partnership (“FLP”) is nothing more than a limited partnership, created as a vehicle to transfer income and title to assets from the family head to other family members, rather than to a non-family business associate. When the owner of a business is in a high income tax bracket, this transfer can drastically reduce any personal liability and taxes.
By Cayce Goff, The Cantor Group
In June of 2016, the OECD updated their FAQ’s for CRS. Section D. Reportable Account number 5 reads as follows:
Q. Are protectors of a trust that is a Reporting Financial Institution considered to be Account Holders of the trust in all instances or only in circumstances where their powers are such that they could be regarded as exercising control over the trust?
A. The protector must be treated as an Account Holder irrespective of whether it has effective control over the trust.
By Allen J. Falke, Mirick, O’Connell, DeMallie & Lougee, LLP
The topic of gifting assets is often an important discussion in the world of estate planning. Generally, a main point of gifting is to remove assets from the estate of the donor to avoid potential estate taxes on the asset.
By Prof Stefano Loconte, Loconte & Partners
Although Italy is a civil law country, it has recognised the common law trust since 1992 with the adoption of The Hague convention of July 1985, but up until now, the Italian civil law code has not contained any provisions concerning trusts. However, it is possible to set up a trust with foreign law subject to The Hague Convention and in accordance with public policy. In Italy, domestic trusts are considered to be those that have only their proper law as a foreign element.
By Robert Worthington, Shea Nerland LLP
It is fairly common for clients to have assets and family members located in more than one country. In such circumstances, a sensible approach to estate planning may be to have separate Wills to cover the assets located in different countries to simplify the administration of a deceased’s estate in each country. However, it also creates traps for the unwary.
By Bethan Boscher, Morrison Kent
Following the recent media attention to the New Zealand Foreign Trust (“NZFT”) industry, John Shewan, appointed by the New Zealand Government to conduct a review on the product, has released his report and recommended that the NZFT offering is retained but with a significant increase in disclosure requirements. But what does this mean in practice for NZFTs and can New Zealand continue to maintain its high international reputation by continuing its NZFT industry?
By Mohammed Aweidah, Al Zarooni Tureva, Auditors, Accountants, Advisors
What is a Waqf? The word Waqf is derived from an Arabic root which means ‘to hold back’, ‘to stand still’ and ‘to tie’. Waqf is also known as an “Endowment”.
By Robert S. Jacobson, Kutchins, Robbins & Diamond, Ltd. (KRD)
Few people realize that, even though they may have a modest estate, their families may owe hundreds of thousands of dollars in estate taxes because they own a life insurance policy with a death benefit that could exceed the current estate tax exemption of 5.43 million dollars. This is because life insurance proceeds, while not subject to federal income tax, are considered part of your taxable estate and are subject to federal estate tax.
By Prof Stefano Loconte and Michele Cecchi, Loconte & Partners
A draft bill has been recently introduced to the Italian Parliament which aims to amend the currently levied gift tax and inheritance tax. Although the hearings on the proposed bill have not started yet, it is true that there has been a lot of talk regarding this issue lately, and it is highly foreseeable that in the very near future, a radical change will be applied to the legislation to such an extent that will be considerably detrimental to taxpayers (possibly by means of a sudden intervention by the Government instead of a long discussed reform by Parliament).
By Nina Krauthamer, Ruchelman P.L.L.C
It is quite common for a foreign high net worth individual to establish a foreign trust, usually discretionary, for the benefit of members of her family. There are a host of reasons - asset protection, forced heirship provisions, privacy – for creating such a trust. It is not unusual for a beneficiary of such a trust to move to the United States for education, work or personal reasons. It is less common for the settlor of the trust to make such a move, or be present for a significant period of time in the United States, but with increasing political and economic instability in many regions of the world, such moves are happening more frequently.
