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Helping a successful UK based entrepreneur plan for retirement in the US

David is a successful entrepreneur. He was born in Mexico but has lived in the UK with his wife as a non-domiciled resident for 11 of the past 20 years, claiming the remittance basis of taxation. His two adult children both live in the US with their young families. As he approaches retirement, he is looking to immigrate to the US.

David's goals:

• Immigrate to the US in the next three years.
• Conduct a strategic review of his international footprint and structures to identify ways of simplifying them and ensuring compatibility with the US.
• Ensure plans are in place for the successful transfer of wealth to the next generations.
• Creation of a Family Office infrastructure to coordinate and assist the family in managing and protecting their inter-generational wealth.

Our recommendations:

• Family Office team in the US to provide pre-immigration planning, consolidating advice from internal and external advisers from across all jurisdictions where the family have a footprint.
• Stonehage Fleming Law US and the Family Office teams in Jersey and Switzerland to review the family’s existing structures and make recommendations to maximize tax efficiency and meet the long-term needs of the family.
• Family Governance and Succession team to work with all family members to formalize their collective purpose and set up a Family Council. Stonehage Fleming Law US to draw up a Family Constitution.
• Family Office team in the US to advise on most efficient Family Office set-up in line with the family’s needs.

Outcomes to date:

• Stonehage Fleming Law US introduced David and his wife to an immigration law firm to obtain appropriate US visas to complement their overall pre-immigration plan. The team also prepared a tax plan to take advantage of pre-immigration tax and estate planning opportunities.
• Family Office in the US established and provides ongoing support to two family trusts for which our Family Office teams in Jersey and Switzerland act as fiduciaries and trustees.
• Our Family Office team in the US are on hand to support the family with the administrative logistics of moving when the time comes and have worked with the family on the design of a small private family office to assist with lifestyle management.
• Our Family Office US team has also completed the design and step plan for implementation to act as an outsourced family office with a specific focus on family governance and financial administration.

Disclaimer: Please note, all case studies have been carefully anonymised. Although scenarios are based on real life events they have been fictionalised and are an amalgamation of client experiences. All names, locations and occupations have been replaced with pseudonyms.