International Private Wealth


In an age of international mobility, we recognise the importance of supporting our clients on the wide-ranging and complex legal issues and tax- and regulatory-related challenges of protecting and preserving their global wealth.

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How we can help you

Our specialist international advisors have extensive experience in providing UK advice on matters with a non-UK element, including UK domicile and residence advice, cross-border wealth and estate planning and the use of appropriate offshore holding vehicles.

We appreciate that dealing with the various issues that can arise for a client with international connections may be daunting.

We always strive to provide clear and practical advice so that our clients know their concerns have been answered and their needs met.

Working with trusted advisors in other jurisdictions or the clients’ network of advisors, we pride ourselves on being able to deliver a seamless and co-ordinated service to our clients, regardless of where in the world they (or their family or assets) are located.

International

Examples of our work

We are here to support our clients on the wide-ranging and complex legal issues and tax-related challenges of protecting and preserving their global wealth and we have extensive experience in providing UK advice on matters with a non-UK element

Examples of the areas where we can provide expert and practical advice are can be found on this page.

International

Wills & estate planning

We advise our clients on Wills and estate planning taking into account their non-UK assets or other connections, for example, a holiday home abroad or non-UK citizenships.

International

IHT advice in the international context

We look at a client’s IHT position as a whole to establish the extent to which the client’s estate may be subject to IHT and/or any non-UK equivalent. Our planning solutions incorporate non-UK tax advice to maximise tax efficiencies across jurisdictions.

International

Domicile advice

The current favourable tax rules which apply to a non-dom client will be abolished from 6 April 2025. A new residence-based regime will then apply. We can advise as to whether this regime will be available in the client’s particular circumstances and the implications of this, or how they might otherwise maximise the various opportunities still available to them. There will be several transitional arrangements in place for the tax years following the change in regime, on which clients should seek technical advice.

International

Residence advice

We regularly advise clients on the application of the UK’s Statutory Residence Test, often in order for a client to be able to spend time in the UK without becoming tax resident here.

International

Pre-arrival planning

Ideally, clients moving to the UK should take UK tax advice prior to becoming UK tax resident. We offer planning advice to such clients in order that they may organise their affairs in a UK tax efficient way in advance of their arrival.

International

Offshore holding vehicles

Complex anti-avoidance rules may apply where wealth is held within an offshore trust and/or offshore company. We provide UK tax advice on the impact of these rules on UK resident settlors and beneficiaries, whether on set up, during the lifetime of trust or other vehicle, and on extracting funds.

International

Reporting

The private client industry has seen the introduction of various transparency measures in recent years. We work with our clients to manage risk and ensure compliance with these measures.

How we work

In all international matters, we work with local advisers where input is needed in another jurisdiction. Whilst some clients have existing advisers in other jurisdictions, we are pleased to have built up an informal network of professional contacts across the globe to whom we can refer our clients.

For any queries on international matters, please contact Caroline Belam.

Our team are here to support you every step of the way

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Meet our international experts

Our clients value our technical excellence, in-depth knowledge and yet friendly and down-to-earth approach. We have a strong team ethos and value the contribution of every member of our staff to the client service we strive to deliver.

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Caroline Belam

Partner

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James Taylor

Tax & Trusts Director

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Natalie Spong

Associate

Case Study | August 2024

We created Flexible Wills for tax efficiency

We advised the clients to make flexible Wills which would allow their executors some discretion and consideration of any family and financial circumstances at their date of death. In this way, the potential future needs of any vulnerable children or future grandchildren could be taken into account. It would allow their executors to hold funds on behalf of one of the beneficiaries either to be managed on their behalf or distributed at a suitable time.

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How we helped

We advised the clients to make flexible Wills which would allow their executors some discretion and consideration of any family and financial circumstances at their date of death. In this way, the potential future needs of any vulnerable children or future grandchildren could be taken into account. It would allow their executors to hold funds on behalf of one of the beneficiaries either to be managed on their behalf or distributed at a suitable time.

In terms of Inheritance Tax planning, a Deed of Variation was advised in order to divert some of the inherited funds into a trust which could be managed for the client’s benefit as well as his spouse, children and any future grandchildren. This would also allow for eventual significant tax savings for the family. 

The result

We drafted flexible Wills for both clients, appointing their children and a third party as executors and trustees. Their estates would be dealt with in such a way that the three trustees would be able to make decisions about the distribution of funds to any vulnerable beneficiaries. This provided our clients with peace of mind about their family’s future. 

Source | 2024

“We want The Burnside Partnership to advise us on making sure our Wills are tax efficient. We want to settle things so that both our children will benefit, and so that matters will run smoothly in the event of one of us dying before the other. One of us is also expecting an inheritance from another estate, and so we need advice on the Inheritance Tax implications.”