Cross-Border Estate Planning Attorneys
Cross-border estate planning coordinates the legal and tax requirements that apply when a person’s family, assets, or citizenship connects them to more than one country. The plan addresses who will inherit, how assets will transfer, which documents will be recognized, and what tax and reporting obligations apply.
Milvidskiy Law Group P.C. practices cross-border estate and tax planning from offices in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. We prepare the U.S. documents and ownership structures, working with counsel abroad to coordinate the requirements of each country.
Key Takeaways:
- Status comes first. Citizenship, income tax residency, and estate tax domicile are three different questions, and the answers for each family member determine what the United States taxes, what it requires reported, and which planning tools are available.
- Recognition of U.S. documents. Forced heirship, the non-recognition of trusts, and local execution formalities mean that property and family abroad usually need a local will, a choice-of-law election, or a local entity coordinated with the U.S. plan.
- Timing decides the options. Planning before a move to the United States, before a gift or inheritance from abroad, before a foreign purchase, and before any expatriation preserves choices that disappear once the event has occurred.
The Framework: Who Is Taxed on What
U.S. citizens, wherever they live, and non-citizens domiciled in the United States are subject to U.S. estate and gift tax on assets anywhere in the world, with the full exemption available to citizens. A person who is neither is subject to U.S. estate tax only on U.S.-situated assets, such as U.S. real estate and shares of U.S. corporations, with a $60,000 exemption against the citizen’s $15,000,000 in 2026.
For income tax, citizens and residents, including green card holders and those who meet the substantial presence day-count test, are taxed on worldwide income; non-residents are taxed on U.S.-source income.
Estate or gift tax treaties with fifteen countries, and income tax treaties with many more, can change which country taxes what. Every cross-border plan begins with a determination of each person’s status under each of these tests, because the same asset can be taxed, exempt, or reportable depending on who holds it.
The Situations We Plan For
International families
A non-citizen spouse does not qualify for the unlimited marital deduction unless property passes through a qualified domestic trust, and gifts to that spouse are limited to $194,000 a year in 2026. Parents abroad leaving an inheritance to a child in the United States create reporting obligations for the child, and a foreign trust in the parents’ plan can create significant tax costs for the U.S. beneficiary. Children who have settled in different countries need documents that work in each. Estate planning for international families coordinates these spousal, inheritance, and documentation issues across borders.
Moving to the United States
The day a person becomes a U.S. tax resident, their worldwide income becomes taxable here and the assets they bring arrive with their existing basis, their foreign companies and funds become subject to U.S. tax rules that may increase their tax burden, and their trusts become reportable. Transactions completed before the residency start date can address these issues while more planning options remain available. Pre-immigration planning addresses when residency begins, basis resets, restructuring of foreign entities and trusts, gifts before domicile, and the difference between income tax residency and estate tax domicile.
Assets in other countries
A U.S. person with bank accounts, real estate, a business, a pension, or a trust abroad owns them inside two systems. The United States includes them in the taxable estate and requires annual information returns with penalties that do not depend on tax being owed; the other country decides who inherits them and whether a U.S. will or trust is recognized. Planning with foreign assets addresses each asset type, estate tax and succession in both countries, and any missed reporting.
Americans living abroad
A U.S. citizen abroad remains subject to U.S. income tax on worldwide income and U.S. estate tax on a worldwide estate, while the country of residence applies its own tax and succession law. The documents signed before departure may not be recognized there, a foreign trustee can convert a U.S. trust into a foreign one, and giving up citizenship is itself a tax event with tests that determine whether an exit tax applies. Estate planning for U.S. citizens abroad coordinates these documents and tax issues, including the needs of a non-citizen spouse.
Real estate abroad, and foreign owners of U.S. real estate
Property outside the United States is governed by the law of the country where it sits, which may apply forced heirship, restrict foreign ownership, and refuse to recognize a U.S. trust. The United States taxes the rental income and the gain on sale and includes the property in the estate. The reverse case, a family abroad buying property here, raises U.S. estate tax above a $60,000 exemption and fifteen percent withholding on a later sale, and the ownership structure is chosen before the contract is signed. In either direction, overseas real estate planning should address ownership, succession, and taxes before the purchase.
Documents That Work in More Than One Country
The U.S. will and revocable trust remain the core of the plan for U.S. assets. For property and family abroad, the plan typically adds a local will limited to the assets in that country and drafted so that neither will revokes the other, a choice-of-law election where the country permits one, powers of attorney and health care documents that will be accepted where the assets and the person actually are, and guardianship nominations that address a guardian living in another country. Documents for use abroad are executed with the formalities that country requires, which may include notarization, an apostille or consular authentication, and translation. We prepare the U.S. documents, coordinate the local ones with counsel there, and manage execution and authentication.
Reporting
Foreign financial accounts, specified foreign financial assets, foreign corporations and partnerships, foreign trusts, and gifts and inheritances received from abroad each carry their own annual U.S. information return. The thresholds depend on filing status and on whether the person lives in the United States or abroad, and the penalties for not filing are measured against the asset rather than against any tax owed. Part of every cross-border plan is an inventory of what must be reported, a review of whether it has been, and, where it has not, use of the IRS procedures for non-willful failures before the estate plan is completed, so that outstanding reporting obligations are addressed during the client’s lifetime.
After a Death
When a person dies with assets or heirs in more than one country, the estate is administered in each country that requires it. A U.S. estate with foreign assets needs a local proceeding to collect them; a foreign estate with property in New York, New Jersey, or Connecticut needs an ancillary proceeding here. Our probate and estate administration practice handles the U.S. side, including ancillary probate in New York and ancillary probate in New Jersey, and coordinates with counsel abroad on the foreign side. The U.S. estate tax return for a non-resident with U.S. property, the foreign death tax credit for a citizen with property abroad, and the information returns the beneficiaries must file are part of that administration.
What Our Cross-Border Estate Planning Service Includes
- A determination of each family member’s citizenship, income tax residency, and estate tax domicile, and an inventory of assets by country with the U.S. treatment of each.
- U.S. wills and trusts drafted for the cross-border situation, including qualified domestic trust provisions for a non-citizen spouse and trustee provisions that preserve U.S. trust status.
- Coordination with counsel abroad on local wills, forced heirship, choice-of-law elections, local entities, and the recognition of trusts.
- Pre-immigration planning for people moving to the United States, and planning for citizens moving abroad or considering expatriation.
- Structuring of gifts and inheritances across borders, and of foreign and U.S. real estate ownership.
- Review of reporting compliance and coordination of catch-up filings with the client’s accountant.
- Powers of attorney, health care documents, and guardianship nominations for use in more than one country, with execution and authentication.
- Administration of U.S. estates with foreign assets and of foreign estates with U.S. property.
- Coordination with our estate tax planning and tax planning attorneys and with the family’s advisors in each country.
Coordinating With Foreign Counsel and Other Advisers
Our attorneys are admitted in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut and advise on U.S. federal and state law. We do not advise on the law of other countries. Where a plan depends on foreign law, we identify the questions, work with counsel in that country whom the client selects or we recommend, and integrate their answers into the U.S. plan. Immigration questions, including visa and green card timing, are referred to immigration counsel and coordinated with the tax and estate plan. Information returns are prepared and filed by the client’s accountant, with our coordination.
Schedule a Cross-Border Estate Planning Consultation
If your estate plan involves more than one country, bring your existing documents from every country, a list of assets by country, and the citizenship and residence of each family member. Our attorneys practice in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut and meet with clients abroad by video. Contact Milvidskiy Law Group P.C. to schedule a consultation.
This page is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Laws differ by state and change over time. For advice about your situation, consult a qualified attorney.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is cross-border estate planning?
Planning for a person whose family, assets, or citizenship cross a border, so that the plan works under U.S. law and under the law of the other country involved. It covers the tax rules that turn on citizenship, residency, and domicile, the documents needed in each country, the reporting the United States requires for foreign assets, and the administration of the estate in more than one place.
Who is subject to U.S. estate tax on worldwide assets?
U.S. citizens, wherever they live, and non-citizens domiciled in the United States, with a $15,000,000 exemption in 2026. A person who is neither is taxed only on U.S.-situated assets, such as U.S. real estate and shares of U.S. corporations, with a $60,000 exemption.
What is the difference between income tax residency and estate tax domicile?
Income tax residency is a day-count or green card test. Estate tax domicile is a question of intent to remain, shown by the facts of a person’s life. A person can be an income tax resident without being a U.S. domiciliary, or the reverse, and the plan differs depending on which applies.
My spouse is not a U.S. citizen. What changes?
Property passing to a non-citizen spouse at death does not qualify for the unlimited marital deduction unless it passes through a qualified domestic trust with a U.S. trustee, and lifetime gifts to that spouse are limited to $194,000 a year in 2026.
I am moving to the United States. When should I start planning?
Before the residency start date, and ideally months before. Selling appreciated assets, restructuring foreign companies and funds, settling trusts, and making gifts all produce a better result when completed while you are still a non-resident.
Do I have to report assets I own in another country?
Yes, if you are a U.S. citizen or resident. Foreign accounts are reported once they together exceed $10,000 at any time in the year, specified foreign financial assets are reported with your return above thresholds that start at $50,000, and foreign companies, foreign trusts, and gifts or inheritances from abroad above $100,000 in a year each have their own information return. The penalties for not filing do not depend on any tax being owed.
Will my U.S. will and trust work for property abroad?
Often not fully. Real estate is governed by the law where it sits, many countries reserve fixed shares for children or a spouse, and many do not recognize trusts. A local will limited to the assets in that country, or a choice-of-law election where the country permits one, is coordinated with the U.S. documents.
I am a U.S. citizen living abroad. Does U.S. estate tax still apply?
Yes. A citizen’s worldwide estate is subject to U.S. estate tax regardless of where the citizen lives, and the country of residence may tax the same estate. Planning also addresses estate documents, foreign trustees, and the tax consequences of giving up citizenship.
My parents abroad want to buy property in New York. What should they know?
A non-resident owner is subject to U.S. estate tax on U.S. real estate above a $60,000 exemption, and a buyer from a non-resident seller must withhold fifteen percent of the price for the IRS, subject to exceptions. How they hold the property is decided before the contract is signed.
Do you advise on the law of other countries or on immigration?
No. Our attorneys advise on U.S. federal and state law. We identify the foreign-law questions, work with counsel in the other country, and integrate their answers into the U.S. plan. Immigration questions are referred to immigration counsel and coordinated with the tax and estate plan.
