What it is
International Estate Planning is the disciplined design of how wealth is built, preserved, and transferred across borders—in a way that is tax-efficient, compliant, and aligned with family and business goals. At Melleh Law, we advise families and closely held companies on structuring assets in the United States and abroad so that succession is orderly, risks are segregated, and costs and disputes are reduced.

A tailored, cross-border approach
Every plan is custom. We analyze your assets, family dynamics, and business footprint and coordinate the relevant areas of law—tax, corporate, and family-succession—in all jurisdictions that matter. For international clients, we pay special attention to domicile, asset situs, treaty interaction, and the practical steps required to keep documents and titles consistent across countries.

Who we serve

• Binational families and expatriates with assets in the U.S. and overseas

• Entrepreneurs and family businesses seeking governance and succession frameworks

• Real-estate and portfolio investors with multi-jurisdiction holdings

What we deliver

• A clear strategy to protect, structure, and transfer assets across jurisdictions

• Implemented legal instruments, coordinated with your CPAs, trustees, and banks

• Ongoing governance: calendars, checklists, and updates as laws or life circumstances change

Typical strategies we may employ

• Wills & Revocable Trusts to streamline succession and, where possible, avoid probate

• Irrevocable Trusts (domestic or foreign) for stewardship, gifting, and risk segregation

• Family holding companies (LLC/Corp/LP) to separate operating risk from asset ownership

• Foundations/DAFs and charitable structures for legacy and tax efficiency

• Gifting programs (including cross-border donations) aligned with tax thresholds and reporting

• Business-succession tools for family companies (buy–sell agreements, voting/non-voting interests)

• Title optimization for real estate and financial accounts, including coordination with lenders and custodians

• Pre-immigration and expatriation planning, treaty and estate/gift tax analysis, and required U.S. filings

Family businesses
Patrimonial (wealth) and succession planning are interdependent in family enterprises. We align corporate governance with family governance to keep personal assets insulated from business liabilities, preserve control where it matters, and enable orderly transitions between generations.

Our process

1. Discovery & mapping — assets, family tree, entities, jurisdictions, objectives

2. Design — scenarios with/without trusts, entity charts, tax/treaty coordination

3. Implementation — drafting, signing, funding of trusts/entities, retitling of assets

4. Maintenance — governance routines, reporting calendars, periodic reviews

This overview is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Outcomes depend on your specific facts and current laws in each jurisdiction.