What type of client uses international financial planning?

Not surprisingly, most of America's major corporations have international entities. And no less conspicuous are the hundreds of thousands of ordinary people worried about litigation and loss of their wealth. They want the best protection – and they find it internationally. For instance, one advantage of international protection is that fraudulently transferred assets within the U.S. are recoverable through the U.S. courts which have jurisdiction over these assets. But American courts lack jurisdiction over international assets, which makes them far better protected. This point is important. You never know when someone will raise claims from the past.

International Financial Centers provide powerful debtor protection because they impose many legal and procedural obstacles which few creditors can overcome. One example is their short statute of limitations (one or two years) to challenge asset transfers internationally. Timely challenges are rare. Another obstacle is that creditors must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a transfer internationally was fraudulent which is a very difficult standard to overcome. Nevis is a particularly strong asset protection jurisdiction and it makes the creditor post a cash bond before the creditor can sue. Another roadblock is that a creditor must hire local counsel on a fee-only basis as contingent fees aren't allowed. Moreover, a judgment creditor must sue anew in the international jurisdiction as these asset protection centers do not recognize or enforce US judgments. We can continue and cite many other reasons why international protection is so formidable.

In sum, people who go internationally with their money are those with enough wealth to make it worthwhile, say $500,000 or more. These people rightfully want appreciably stronger protection than domestic or U.S.-based entities can provide.

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