Foreign Nationals in the U.S. - Estate Tax, Wills & Guardianship
By R. Scott Jones, Esq.
Foreign nationals arriving in the United States as investors or on business generally have a lot on their mind, but all too often - although quite understandably - U.S. estate planning and its co-ordination with home-country arrangements do not make the list!
Crucial to understand in this increasingly global world is a fundamental and longstanding legal concept that governs a person's status, capacity and rights - lex domicilii, now known as the law of domicile.
This notion of domicile embodies the idea as to where one considers one's permanent home to be, and has a bearing on the application of law in multiple areas, including marriage, guardianship, inheritance, tort and contract law. While a domicile of origin is acquired at birth, a domicile of choice may be acquired at a later point in life.