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Moving to the U.S.? Five Estate Planning Surprises That Catch Immigrants Off Guard
You have handled the visa paperwork, found a place to live, and started planning your new life in the United States. Estate planning is probably not on your list. It should be.
Not because moving to the U.S. is dangerous, but because becoming a U.S. resident quietly changes the legal rules governing your money, your property, and your family, often before you realize it. Here are five things worth understanding before you make the move.
1. Your Spouse Cannot Just “Handle Things” If You Are Incapacitated
This is one of the most common assumptions families make, and it is wrong.
In the U.S., being married does not give your spouse automatic legal authority to manage your finances or make medical decisions if you become unable to do so yourself. Without the right documents in place:
- Banks will freeze your accounts.
- Doctors will look for legal authorization before sharing information or following instructions.
- Your spouse may need to go to court to get authority to act on your behalf, which is expensive, slow, and stressful.
The same is true for adult children, parents, or anyone else you trust. Good intentions are not enough. The law requires a document.
What you can do: A Power of Attorney (for financial decisions) and a Health Care Proxy (for medical decisions) give a person of your choice the legal authority to act for you. These documents need to be properly executed under New York law to be valid. Getting them in place before you move, or shortly after, is one of the simplest things you can do to protect your family.
2. The $60,000 Threshold Nobody Tells You About
Here is a number that surprises almost everyone. If you own U.S.-based assets and you are not yet a U.S. resident or citizen, the federal estate tax exemption that applies to your estate is just $60,000.
Compare that to the exemption for U.S. residents and citizens, which is approximately $15 million per person. The gap is enormous, and the consequences are real. Here is what that means in plain terms:
- If you are a non-resident and you die owning U.S. assets worth more than $60,000, the federal estate tax rate on everything above that threshold is 40%.
- On a $500,000 Manhattan apartment, that could mean a tax bill of roughly $176,000, due before your family can access the property.
- On a $1 million asset, the exposure climbs to approximately $376,000.
This catches people off guard most often when they buy U.S. property before establishing residency. You purchase an apartment in Manhattan while still living abroad, thinking of it as an investment. If something happens to you before you become a resident, that property could face a very large tax bill with very little exemption to cushion it.
What you can do: There are planning strategies that may reduce this exposure, including certain trust structures. The right approach depends on your assets, your timeline, and your specific situation. An estate planning attorney can walk you through the options before you make any major U.S. asset purchases.
3. Once You Move, the U.S. Taxes Your Worldwide Income and Assets
The United States is one of the only countries in the world that taxes its residents on worldwide income, not just income earned domestically. Once you establish residency for tax purposes, the following generally become reportable and potentially taxable in the U.S.:
- Income earned abroad
- Rental income from property in your home country
- Dividends and interest from foreign bank or investment accounts
- Business income from companies you own overseas
For estate planning purposes, the implications go further. U.S. domiciliaries, meaning people whose primary home and intentions are in the U.S., are subject to U.S. estate tax on their worldwide assets, not just what they own here. A business interest in another country, real estate abroad, foreign investment accounts: all of it may be counted.
Tax treaties between the U.S. and other countries can affect outcomes, and planning tools exist. But the starting assumption changes the moment you move.
What you can do: Before you relocate, take stock of what you own and where. Certain planning steps, including how assets are titled and whether any transfers make sense before you move, are simpler to implement before U.S. residency begins. Once the clock starts, your options may narrow.
4. Your Foreign Trust May Not Work the Way You Think It Will
Many families moving from Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, or Asia already have trusts or holding structures in their home country. These were carefully designed to protect assets and manage inheritance under local law.
The problem is that U.S. law looks at foreign trusts through its own lens. A structure that works well under one country’s rules may, under U.S. law:
- Trigger significant reporting obligations with the IRS
- Be treated as a grantor trust for U.S. income tax purposes, meaning you owe tax on its income as if you owned the assets directly
- Fail to produce the estate planning outcomes you expected
This is not a reason to panic, and it is not a reason to dismantle structures that may still have value. It is a reason to have those structures reviewed before you move, while you still have time to make adjustments.
What you can do: Bring documentation of any existing trusts or holding structures to a pre-move consultation. Understanding how they will be treated under U.S. law gives you time to make changes while you still have maximum flexibility.
5. Your Home Country Will and Estate Plan May No Longer Be Enough
Many people who move to the U.S. have a Will or an estate plan from their home country and assume it will continue to govern what happens to their assets. It may not. Here is why:
- New York has its own rules about what makes a Will valid and how assets pass at death.
- A foreign Will may or may not be recognized, and even if it is, it may not address U.S.-based assets effectively.
- Planning for incapacity through Powers of Attorney and Health Care Proxies is handled differently in the U.S. than in most other countries. What you have from home likely will not transfer.
- If you own property in New York, a New York Will is the cleaner, more reliable approach.
Think of establishing U.S. estate planning documents as part of your relocation checklist, alongside opening a bank account and enrolling your children in school. It does not need to be complicated, but it does need to happen.
What you can do (Part 1): Before or shortly after you arrive, have your existing documents reviewed by a New York estate planning attorney. In many cases, a straightforward set of U.S. documents can be put in place quickly, giving your family clarity from day one.
What you can do (Part 2): Bring documentation of any existing trusts or holding structures to a pre-move consultation. Understanding how they will be treated under U.S. law gives you time to make changes while you still have maximum flexibility.
What This Means for Your Family
The goal of estate planning is not to prepare for the worst. It is to make sure your family does not face unnecessary chaos, expense, or conflict if something unexpected happens.
For families moving to the United States, the window before you establish residency is genuinely valuable. Some of the most useful planning steps are easier and more flexible before the legal rules change. Once you are a resident, the options are not gone, but some doors close.
At Sverdlov Law, PLLC, we help families navigate exactly this kind of transition. Our work is about preserving both your assets and your family’s peace of mind, using tools like Wills, revocable and irrevocable trusts, Powers of Attorney, Health Care Proxies, and more.
None of this is legal advice, and every family’s situation is different. But if you are planning a move to the U.S. and you have assets, a family, or both, a conversation with an estate planning attorney before you arrive is worth the time. The right questions asked early can prevent real problems later.
If you are preparing a move, now is the right time to make sure your estate plan aligns with your goals before you relocate. To speak with an estate planning attorney, contact Sverdlov Law, PLLC, today. We would be happy to assist you.
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The information provided in this blog post is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Every inheritance dispute case is unique and requires individual analysis. Please contact Sverdlov Law PLLC for a confidential consultation regarding your specific circumstances.