Charles Schwab
By Austin Jarvis
November 14th, 2025
If you have financial ties in multiple countries, your U.S. estate plan may not be enough.
You’ve done everything right: designated beneficiaries for your retirement accounts, drafted a will, set up trusts, and otherwise organized your affairs. But if you decide to spend significant time abroad—or even own investments or property in another country—your carefully constructed U.S. estate documents might not be enough.
Without experienced advisors on the ground, even well-intentioned plans originating in the U.S. can be delayed or outright rejected because of their incompatibility with local legal frameworks.
Working with estate attorneys who understand cross-border issues won’t eliminate every complication, but it can help you structure your plans in ways that are more likely to be recognized and carried out as intended.
