By Ian Macdonald, Wright, Johnston & Mackenzie LLP
As Scotland and England are part of the same island and have shared a Parliament for nearly 300 years (from 1707 till the Scottish Parliament was established to deal with some legal and policy matters in 1999), you might assume that the law in the two countries on most matters is the same. Nothing could be further from the truth, particularly in the area of trusts.
By Brigitte Jakoby, Jakoby Dr. Baumhof – Wirtschaftsprüfer Steuerberater Rechtsanwälte
The term “family pool” can not be found in any legal text. It is not a legal term. Basically, it defines a company, in which the family assets are collected, hold and handed over in an easy way to the fol-lowing generations. Purposes of these family companies can be the preservation of the family assets on the one hand, the fair treatment of heirs, an useful designed asset succession regarding tax law or the efficient management of the family assets. Depending on the respective family assets, the em-phasis on the aforementioned target parameters can be very different.
By Patrick J. McCormick, Drucker & Scaccetti, P.C.
Estate and gift tax techniques that are the foundation of common planning strategies do not necessarily apply to noncitizens or nonresidents.
By Sergio Guerrero Rosas, Guerrero y Santana, S.C.
For that statement to be true, we must have control of what we want for our family and our heritage before any eventuality. If this is not the case, let's not allow our dream to become our worst nightmare; foreseeing possible disagreements is the best way to prevent them from happening.
By Christophe Maulny and Alexane Palide, Anthony & Cie
As part of our International Family Office core business, we often work on interesting creative wealth strategy as well as real estate planning that would have been very difficult to envisage before meeting the person at the source of inspiration.
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 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?
