While saving money on taxes is certainly important, the ultimate goal of any estate plan is to provide peace of mind. As a non-resident with ties to the United States, working with an attorney who focuses on international estate planning is the best way to ensure that your plan addresses your complex tax planning needs while ensuring that you're prepared for the future, and your loved ones will be cared for after you're gone.
Preventing Wasteful Spending and Reducing Conflict
One common concern among our clients is how to prevent their heirs from spending their inheritance wastefully. Assets that look a lifetime to accumulate can easily disappear in just a few years if a beneficiary has a substance abuse or gambling problem—or is simply prone to impulsive purchases.
A trust allows you to control assets even after you're gone by including instructions for how the trustee can manage the assets on behalf of your beneficiaries. This might include providing a monthly stipend for living expenses, lump-sum payments once beneficiaries reach a certain age, or funds for postsecondary education.
When you're controlling assets through a trust, this also reduces the opportunity for conflict among your heirs. If there's a detailed plan for your assets, your adult children can't argue about what is fair or whether specific purchases should be allowed.
Keeping Your Business in the Family
If you have a family-owned business, careful estate planning can ensure the business continues to benefit future generations of blood relatives. If you fail to plan, the divorce and remarriage of your adult children can give non-blood relatives a claim to key assets, or your children may make decisions that take your company in a direction you did not intend.
There are many questions you must consider as a business owner. Do you want your adult children to work in the business? Do you want their spouses to work for the company as well? Would it be better to have a board of professionals managing operations and have the profits left to your children as shareholders? When you take the time to clarify your goals, an experienced international estate planning attorney can advise on limited partnerships and other planning strategies that can help you find the right way to prepare for the future.
Let Us Help You Create a Plan That Fits Your Needs
There's one key truth you must remember about estate planning: if you don't have a plan, the law has a plan for you. Do you really want the government to make these important decisions on your behalf?
At MEG International Counsel, we are committed to providing our clients with estate planning services personalized to fit their needs as Mexican or Latin American investors. We encourage you to request our book, The Definitive Blue Book of Estate Planning for Foreign Millionaires, to familiarize yourself with key estate planning concepts, then contact us to schedule a consultation.