Estate Planning
Estate Planning
International Asset Planning Lawyers & Attorneys
Be sure your heirs get exactly what they deserve
It’s a difficult topic for many, but it needs to be discussed: What happens to your estate once you are no longer there to enjoy – and manage – it?
Survey after survey shows that three-quarters of people have now will or estate plan – even high net worth individuals who ought to know better and most certainly have much to lose. Such cognitive dissonance – willful ignorance – endangers the wealth these individuals have labored so strenuously to accumulate. And worse, it puts into jeopardy the loved ones who may have no significant financial wherewithal of their own.
All of this can be handled with the development and implementation of a global estate plan.
Avoid legal challenges to your will while minimizing the resulting tax burden
Now, you may have a will and testament and you may think that is enough. Sadly, it is not. For starters, a will must be probated (its validity established). That alone can set off a wave of lawsuits if the will was not properly created and authorized. And even if it is, there is the issue of inheritance or estate taxes, which in many countries result in extremely costly donations to the local jurisdiction.
All of which is why WZ&P offers estate planning services designed to stave off legal challenges while minimizing the resulting tax burden.
Let WZ&P’s Asset Planning lawyers help you plan the most important asset transfer of your life
A key component of our strategy is to minimize the potential damage that can be caused in probate court, where even distant relatives can pop up and pose challenges to the will simply because they feel they were treated unfairly. These challenges – and subsequent appeals – can go on for years, draining financial resources and sapping psychic energy. That’s why WZ&P sets up separate legal entities to control significant assets. That way, when the individual dies, he doesn’t actually own any assets – the legal entity does. Meaning there is no will, no probate process, no inheritance or estate taxes. The heirs simply assume control of the legal entity and immediately enjoy the benefits of ownership. This structure can be perpetuated over generations, ensuring control of assets and minimizing attorney and tax fees.
One further note on taxes: Most countries impose estate or gift fees on the transfer of significant amounts of money or items of value. WZ&P brings global expertise in tax law – in nearly one hundred nations – and will make sure we recommend the most beneficial structure for your transfer, which may include offshore bank accounts and legal entities located in tax-friendly jurisdictions.
Protect your heirs with a comprehensive estate planning strategy
It isn’t easy to talk about, but someday you won’t be here. And while that prospect is surely frightening, equally disturbing is the possibility that all the hard-earned wealth you’ve accumulated won’t be properly passed along to your heirs. Or that distribution will be held up for years as legal challenges work their way through probate court.
Explore the advantages of transferring ownership to a new legal entity
Or – most cruelly – that the government will bite off a huge portion under the rubric of estate taxes.
WZ&P can help you prepare your estate by creating a legal entity in a tax haven country and transferring ownership to that new entity. For your convenience, the assets themselves can remain in your home country where you can supervise and enjoy them; only the legal entity itself needs to be in the offshore jurisdiction.
The same strategy can be applied to all your assets – businesses, boats, bank accounts and more.
This way, when you do pass away, you actually own no assets – they are held by the legal entity. So there is nothing to probate. The legal entity passes control to your heirs – and those heirs can do the same for their own heirs. Because the legal entity lives on in perpetuity (that is, forever), there are never any inheritance taxes. Whoever controls the legal entity – you, your heirs, their heirs – controls the wealth and enjoys the benefits thereof.
Find out more about WZ&P global estate planning solutions
Problem: Harry lives in a county with a high inheritance tax rate using a timely and costly probate process which will greatly reduce the amount of inheritance for his heirs. Harry would like to avoid these costs and delays when he passes away.
Solution: We can assist Harry with transferring ownership of all his assets into a legal entity located in a tax haven country with no inheritance tax or probate system. The assets can remain in Harry’s country while being in the name of the legal entity.
Bank accounts could also be transferred to tax haven countries in the name of the legal entity or they can remain in Harry’s country in the name of the legal entity.
When Harry passes away there will be no assets in his name to probate. The legal entity will immediately pass on control of all assets to Harry’s heirs (beneficiaries) who will also be able to continue this process for their heirs. The legal entity is perpetual (lasting forever) while maintaining ownership of all of Harry’s assets while Harry controls the legal entity. This system provides total estate planning which avoids inheritance taxes and probate while continuing to provide the same benefits for Harry’s heirs and their heirs.
Our global estate planning solutions can eliminate inheritance tax and costly probate.
The time to plan your ever after is now
Our Estate Planning service can eliminate the need for an expensive and time-consuming probate. We can create legal entities based in an offshore jurisdiction to take title to all of your assets so your heirs can take immediate control of the assets when you pass away. This jurisdiction will have no gift, estate, or inheritance taxes.
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