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The Final Chapter: Testamentary Instruments for Global Families

The Final Chapter: Testamentary Instruments for Global Families

As more families live, invest, and hold assets across multiple countries, estate planning increasingly requires coordination between legal systems that are not designed to work together. A foreign Will, alone, may not effectively administer U.S. assets, while a U.S. Will drafted in isolation can unintentionally disrupt an existing foreign estate plan. An important objective in cross-border estate planning is the creation of complementary structures that minimize probate friction, provide efficient tax planning for beneficiaries, and preserve the client’s intended dispositive scheme across jurisdictions. In her article, Allison Dolzani (i) explores several key cross-border testamentary planning considerations for global families with U.S. beneficiaries and U.S. assets and (ii) suggests planning, practical, and logistical guidance for U.S. estate administration of a foreign estate.

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The Pour-Over Clause In A Cross-Border Context

The Pour-Over Clause In A Cross-Border Context

With all the career and job opportunities available, many Canadians and Americans choose to cross the border to pursue new goals. Providing trust and estate planning advice to Canadians living in the United States and Americans living in Canada is no longer a rare situation. Where an individual has spent part of his life in one country and part in the other, his will and power of attorney may have been executed in one country but not amended following the arrival in the other country. This can pose problems when an estate plan crafted to meet U.S. rules is applied to a U.S. citizen that relocated to Canada and remained in Canada for the balance of his life. Caroline Rheaume, a member of the Quebec Bar, focuses on pour-over provisions in trusts, frequently used by U.S. estate planners, but which encounter enforceability problems in several Canadian provinces. The takeaway is simple. When in Canada do as the Canadians do, or your legatees may find that you died intestate.

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