Whether it’s international athletes, actors, entrepreneurs, successful digital nomads or large families with relatives living in different countries, HNW individuals lead international lifestyles with diverse interests. And this impacts the way they manage and pass on their wealth…

Imagine a recently deceased French national with a daughter resident in Mexico, assets deposited in Madrid and a Swiss bank account. In this scenario, we’re already dealing with four jurisdictions, each with their own specific probate and succession processes to contend with. And interestingly, such situations are relatively common in today’s world.

Now consider a professional international football player, relocating from the UK to Spain, or a professional DJ temporarily moving from Sweden to the US. These are just a few examples of wealth mobility and the need for wealth planning across different jurisdictions.

Individuals in such situations need flexible and portable solutions to cater to their specific circumstances.

What are the available options?

In our hyper-connected world, there is a greater focus on wealth moving across borders. Thus, there is a greater need for transparent, straightforward, comprehensive and compliant wealth planning solutions that are well established within international legal and fiscal regimes. This is one of the benefits of Luxembourg unit-linked life insurance.

Does a move to another jurisdiction need to be planned well in advance?

Knowing when a move to a different jurisdiction is likely to happen can help determine when wealth, succession or estate planning should commence.

For example, tax and retirement needs may differ, and the existing wealth planning structure may need adjustments to comply with the new country of residence.

Let’s take the example of a Mexican entrepreneur who is planning to move to Spain. In anticipation of their move, the client would take out a unit-linked life insurance policy subject to Spanish law in full compliance with both Mexican and Spanish legal frameworks.

There are a number of details that would need to be addressed at the set-up of the policy to ensure adequate and appropriate compliance once the Policyholder relocates to Spain. So, timely planning is essential. The policy would not only provide tax deferral in both jurisdictions, but it would also simplify the reporting obligations once in Spain, plus many additional benefits such as succession planning.

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