mmhendrie

Folks, US/Brit dual citizen, 25yrs living in the States, originally from UK. Planning to move back to the UK in 18-24 months time. Lots of financial/legal/immigration complexities to figure out - 401ks, 529s, visas for family etc. Looking for someone in Los Angeles (pref. Westside) who can provide professional advise with expertise on both countries. Any recommendations?

thanks!
-m

Cook_County

One would dissolve any existing California living trust long before moving to the UK. A 529 plan is generally not recommended for a UK resident because of the risk that HMRC may consider these to be trusts. Investments outside of retirement accounts would be moved into HMRC reporting funds.

Alan17

Never used him, but Adam Beach, based in Manhattan Beach (no relation) always gets a good recommendation on the Brits in LA Facebook page.

mmhendrie

yeah, I think it can get complicated - we don't know if our move back to the UK is long term or not. That said, we intend to keep our LA home, which would be housed within the living trust, so we may not want to dissolve that. Also, I understand 529s can be an issue, but, were we to withdraw the funds from it now, we'd owe both taxes and penalties for not using them for qualified education expenses. Also, I suppose there's a chance my child returns to the US for college, so we have to figure out best policies for flexibility.

thx for the recommendation for Adam Beach - I'll check him out.

Cook_County

A living trust is a disaster for a UK resident or domiciliary, even more so if you might move back to California. Dissolving it is the only practical solution unless - like Britney Spears - you to appoint a US resident conservator to act as trustee. .

mmhendrie

ok, this is why I need to talk to an expert

Without a living trust in CA, if we die, our house would be subject to the CA probate process...which would cost tens of thousands and could take multiple years to execute. So, I'd need to figure all that out - best way forward etc.

Rete

Assuming your child is both a US and a UK citizen, then yes, there always is a possibility that they would like to at least a semester in the US at some point in their college life. Perhaps even their master's or PH'D.

Sorry that you are having to go through immigration for someone in your family to live in the UK. If it is child that you formally adopted, that child is now a US Citizen.

Good luck with the move and the financial issues.

mmhendrie

Thanks! Child has dual, it's my US Cit wife the immigration will be for.

Pulaski

With the issues that having a living trust would cause in the UK, and may cause in CA if you dissolve it, I would consider life insurance to cover the period you expect to be in the UK. I.e. dissolve the California trust and have life insurance to cover the taxes and expenses of probate in the event that you die.

S Folinsky

As per your first post, you need advice on yourproposed repatriation to the UK. Probably the advice will include legal advice. My law school class on Trusts was 50 years ago. The current versions of “ living trusts “ (a slight misnomer) have what traditionally called merger since the trustor, trustee and beneficiary were all the same. Notionally speaking, the trust never came into existence. Over time, the laws were amended in all states to allow such merger. My understanding is that the UK still has merger in place.

BTW, one of the expenses of trusts is the $$ spent during your life. My parents set up a trust in 1986. Mom died in 1992, which made half of the trust irrevocable. My brother and I were the alternative beneficiaries/trustees. My brother passed away in 2004. I had Dad hire a trust/estate attorney. It was a mess inasmuch as Dad never split the trust in two like he was supposed to. Also, my niece and nephew stepped into their fathers shoes, so to speak. He amended his half to have brothers widow step into his shoes. My sister in law and niece nephew wanted to have SIL step into hubby’s share. Could not do it other than informal agreement of kids to assign to mom AFTER their grandfather passed (in 2017). BTW, my attorney advised that it was permissible for me to take a substantial fee. I arbitrarily took only 20% of what I was entitled to simply because it was a LOT of work on my part. SIL felt I should’ve taken no fee at all. She has never spoken to me since.