International Tax Planning for Marriage, Divorce, and Inheritance

International Tax Planning for Marriage, Divorce, and Inheritance

International Tax Planning for Marriage, Divorce, and Inheritance

August 4, 2026

A wedding gift can trigger an IRS filing most Americans have never heard of. International tax attorney Christine Alexis Concepción explains why prenups, trusts, and inheritances rarely survive a move abroad unchanged.

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DOES YOUR ESTATE PLAN ACTUALLY FOLLOW YOU WHEN YOU MOVE ABROAD

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A client called international tax attorney Christine Alexis Concepción about buying an apartment in France. The notary needed to know how the property would be titled. Concepción stopped her cold. There was a lot more to talk about first, starting with the fact that the client's existing US estate plan had no idea France existed.

That's the pattern Concepción sees again and again. Families assume that once a trust, a will, or a prenup is signed, it travels with them wherever they go next. It doesn't. Immigration status and tax residency run on separate tracks, and a family can be fully compliant with one while quietly breaking the rules of the other without anyone telling them. Most people find out only after a move, a death, or a divorce has already happened, at the exact point when fixing it costs the most.

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A DIGITAL NOMAD VISA CAN QUIETLY MAKE YOU A TAX RESIDENT

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Concepción hears a version of the same sentence from clients constantly: "I'm just going on a digital nomad visa, but I still have my US employer." What they usually don't realize is that a visa is an immigration document, and residency for tax purposes is a completely different question, one that every country answers differently based on how many days someone actually spends there.

One client learned this the hard way. On a digital nomad visa, they crossed a residency threshold they never tracked and became a tax resident for both income and inheritance purposes in their host country. A $300,000 inheritance that would have passed to them tax-free under US law suddenly owed tax abroad, purely because of where they happened to be living when the money arrived. Nobody in that situation has to be wealthy for the mistake to be expensive.

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INHERITANCE TAX AND US ESTATE TAX ARE NOT THE SAME SYSTEM

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In the United States, the estate tax applies to a person's worldwide assets, with a current exemption of $15 million per individual. Most families never come close to that number, which is why estate tax rarely comes up in everyday planning conversations.

Move abroad, and the system flips. Many countries tax the person receiving an inheritance rather than the estate itself, and the exemption threshold is often far lower than Americans expect. A bank account is simple to tax; you liquidate part of it and pay the bill. A family business or a piece of real estate is not so simple. Concepción points to France as an example, where an inherited property can trigger a tax bill as high as 60% of its value without prior planning, a number that turns an inheritance into a forced sale more often than families expect.

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CAN A WEDDING GIFT REALLY TRIGGER AN IRS FORM 3520 FILING

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Concepción brought up a case that made headlines recently: a couple's wedding gifts from abroad ended up triggering an IRS filing requirement nobody in the family had ever heard of. Once gifts from a single foreign individual add up to more than $100,000 in a year, the recipient owes the IRS a Form 3520, whether or not any tax is actually due.

The penalties for missing that filing are steep, and the rule has nothing to do with how wealthy the family is. It's triggered by the size and source of the gift alone, which is exactly why it catches ordinary families as often as it catches anyone else.

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FORCED HEIRSHIP CAN OVERRIDE A WILL, EVEN AN AMERICAN ONE

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Many countries outside the US follow a rule called forced heirship, which guarantees a fixed share of an estate to certain heirs, usually children, no matter what a will says. Concepción has worked with clients who wanted to leave a specific child out of their estate for personal reasons, only to learn that intention becomes unenforceable the moment they establish tax residency in a forced-heirship country.

There's still a way through this, but the options shrink fast once residency is already established. Reviewing an estate plan before a purchase, before a move, before a residency threshold gets crossed, is usually the only point where real choices still exist.

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THE BOTTOM LINE ON CROSS-BORDER ESTATE PLANNING

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None of this requires ultra-high net worth to matter. A digital nomad visa, a modest inheritance, a wedding gift, or a prenup drafted years before a move abroad can all quietly expose a family to a second country's tax and inheritance rules. Concepción's experience points to a simple fix: a few hours of coordinated legal work between US and local advisors, done before residency is established rather than after, is usually enough to avoid the worst outcomes.

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CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS

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00:00 -  Cross-border Estate Planning: Who Needs It and Why

05:55 - US Estate Tax vs. Inheritance Tax Abroad

09:30 - How an Unplanned Inheritance Becomes Taxable in the US

12:38 - Why Your Prenup Might Not Hold Up After Moving Abroad

18:09 - Dividing Foreign Company Shares in a Divorce Settlement

26:20 - Why US Trust Structures Often Fail Once You Move Abroad

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ABOUT THE GUEST

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Christine Concepción is an international tax attorney whose practice covers cross-border tax planning, estate planning, pre-immigration planning, expatriation, FBAR compliance, and tax controversy for individuals, families, and closely held businesses.

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ABOUT YOUR HOST

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Arielle Tucker, CFP® & IRS Enrolled Agent with Connected Financial Planning, is a cross-border financial planner based in Switzerland helping Americans living abroad navigate U.S. taxes, international investments, and cross-border financial planning.

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ABOUT PASSPORT TO WEALTH®

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Passport To Wealth® is the platform for current and aspiring US expats looking for trusted, fiduciary support. We connect globally mobile Americans with expert, licensed cross-border financial advisors, tax professionals, and relocation experts who understand the financial and legal complexities of life abroad. For guidance tailored to your specific situation, book a paid expat expert consultation today.

STAY CONNECTED

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This episode is for educational purposes only and does not constitute tax, legal, or financial advice. Individual circumstances vary. Consult a qualified cross-border financial professional before making any financial or tax decisions.