Understanding US Estate Duties

We'll start by unpacking a risk most global investors overlook: the moment you hold US-situs assets — US stocks, ESOPs, real estate — your wealth becomes exposed to a 40% US estate duty that can sharply reduce what passes to your beneficiaries. This session breaks down what these duties are, which assets trigger them, and the limited exceptions that apply, so you can see clearly where your own portfolio may be exposed.

Wealth Destruction and the Compliance Nightmare

Next, we'll go beyond the 40% headline to show why the settlement process itself is so damaging. You'll learn how frozen custodian accounts, mandatory US attorneys, strict tax timelines, and the wait for an IRS transfer certificate can keep beneficiaries from their inheritance for 1–3 years.

We'll pay particular attention to mark-to-market risk — how timing mismatches in a declining market can push the effective duty from 40% to as much as 100% of total assets, a danger most investors never see coming.

Why Non-Compliance Is Not an Option

We'll then address the dangerous shortcut some investors are advised to take — selling and repatriating funds on death to sidestep the duty — and why it backfires. You'll understand how this creates an auditable trail the IRS can treat as intent to evade, exposing beneficiaries to penalties of 2–3x the tax owed and up to 8 years' imprisonment.

With cross-border information sharing expanding and automatic liens converting the estate's liability into the beneficiary's, we'll make the case for why this is a risk no investor should pass to their family.

The Right Structuring Removes the Risk Entirely

Finally, we'll turn to the solution. You'll see how a little due diligence at the time of investing lets you access US markets without ever holding US-situs assets — removing both the wealth destruction of compliance and the criminal exposure of non-compliance, simply by choosing the right route to build US exposure.