Helping Nonresident Aliens With Estate Planning Services
San Diego’s proximity to the U.S. border with Mexico makes this area an attractive location for many foreign nationals who wish to extend their business enterprises. In addition, recent years have seen an increase in the number of Mexican citizens relocating to the United States from Mexico.
Chula Vista, California: Estate Planning For Foreign Nationals
Foreign nationals — also called nonresident aliens for probate and taxation purposes — are treated quite differently than U.S. citizens in many areas of the law. This needs to be taken into account in estate planning.
The Chula Vista law firm of Green & Green LLP is one of few law firms in the San Diego area with attorneys who provide both probate and estate planning services for nonresident aliens. Led by local community leader Michael A. Green, a lawyer with more than 40 years ‘ estate planning experience.
We have the knowledge and experience to advise foreign nationals on how to structure asset ownership to minimize estate taxation. We also provide informed guidance for clients who need to probate estates of nonresident aliens. Contact us today to schedule a consultation.
Aquí El Abogado Habla Español
Federal estate tax laws treat nonresident aliens differently from both resident aliens (green card holders and permanent residents) and U.S. citizens. One of the primary differences is the lower threshold for federal estate taxation. U.S. citizens and resident aliens may leave $5.0 million (in 2011) to heirs without it being subjected to federal estate taxes. For nonresident aliens, estate taxes are levied on estates valued at $60,000 or more.
The different treatment foreign nationals receive under U.S. estate taxation laws means that the heirs of deceased nonresident aliens run the risk of losing a significant percentage of their intended bequests to estate taxes.
Careful Evaluation Of The U.S. Assets Of Nonresident Aliens
At Green & Green LLP, we encourage every nonresident alien who owns real estate or does business in San Diego to develop a well-thought-out estate plan that may incorporate wills and trusts, life insurance, gifting, and other strategies to reduce the prospect of estate taxation after death.
Nonresident aliens may own assets in the U.S. and abroad. Determining whether those assets will be taxed by the U.S. upon estate administration is based upon the “situs” of the assets. Non]resident aliens are taxed on their U.S. situs assets but not on their non-U.S. situs assets.
While “situs” essentially refers to the asset’s location, the actual definitions are found in the internal revenue code and involve a number of somewhat technical considerations besides physical location. Depending on the situs of your assets, our attorneys may advise different planning strategies to protect assets considered non-U.S. situs from taxation and minimize the tax effect for U.S. situs assets.
For those responsible for administering existing estates of non]resident aliens, we provide thorough, sophisticated probate administration services. We can evaluate the estate and seek out ways to minimize estate taxes on U.S. assets.
Minimize Estate Taxes — Seek Advice From Smart And Savvy Attorneys
Our small, friendly law firm stands ready to assist non]resident aliens — citizens of foreign countries — with both probate administration and estate planning. Schedule a consultation to obtain practical and up-to-date advice from caring estate planning attorneys.