Cross-border families: when residency becomes a planning decision.

A growing share of the families we serve have members living in more than one country. Children study and settle abroad; principals divide time between homes; operating businesses expand internationally. Each of these moves can quietly change a family's tax position.

Three tests, not one

Residency, domicile and citizenship are assessed differently across jurisdictions, and each can independently create income, gift or estate tax exposure. The United States, unusually, taxes its citizens on worldwide income regardless of where they live — which shapes planning for every family with an American member.

Where structures break down

• Foreign trusts with US beneficiaries can generate complex reporting and punitive tax on accumulated income.
• Investment funds that are efficient domestically may be treated as passive foreign investment companies abroad.
• Estate plans drafted under one legal system may not be recognised in another.

Coordinating across borders

We act as the coordinating hub between a family's advisors in each jurisdiction, maintaining a single map of residency, assets, entities and obligations. Before any move — a child relocating, a property purchase, a business expansion — we model the consequences across every affected regime.