While all families in the U.S. should have an estate plan, a comprehensive plan is particularly important when your family ties and assets span more than one country.

Estate planning can be a challenging task for anyone, but add multiple citizenships and foreign assets into the mix, and it can become formidable. That said, failing to have a plan in place can leave your family at risk.

To help us navigate these issues, we have estate planning attorney SHANNON MCNULTY with us to talk about how to protect your family when you cross borders.

Shannon McNulty is an estate planning attorney and Founder of THE VILLAGE LAW FIRM in New York City, She provides comprehensive tax and estate planning for New Yorkers and their families. Shannon has a particular focus on global families with young children.

Shannon has earned the CFP® designation from the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards. And she is on the Board of Directors of the Estate Planning Council of New York City (with me).

Shannon is host of the GLOBAL VILLAGE LAW AND MONEY PODCAST– a resource to help foreign nationals make smart legal and financial decisions.

Tell us how you came to work with global families in your practice.

Why is it so important to for global families to have an estate plan in place?

What are the basic things that an estate plan for these families should address?

• Guardianship for kids;
  
• Arrange for the fast, easy transfer of your assets;
  
• Incapacity planning;
  
• Minimize taxes
  

Can a parent designate a guardian for their children who does not live in the U.S.?

What happens if no guardian is designated?

Can you explain how to make sure your assets quickly go to the people who you want to have them if you pass away?

If your kids are minors, who will manage the assets for them?

What is incapacity planning? Why is it important?

What do global families need to know about taxes in the estate planning context?

Before we finish, maybe you can give us a recap of the essential documents that global families living in the U.S. should have in place?

Some comments on Shannon’s Podcast