‶A while back, our client asked us to look into moving their headquarters to another country. So we studied the options, discovered it would be advantageous to them both personally and professionally and over the next couple years, we relocated their headquarters and put them into a more holistic, comprehensive estate planning model. It’s an international dialogue. Rules and structures vary widely from country to country. My team goes back and forth with experts in other countries until I believe we have the best solution out there.
Then as our client’s business matured, we began to structure the investment side of the profits they were earning. That’s what we’re after for our clients: a continuum of sound decision-making.″
– Phil Tortorich, Founder | TORCH LAW
Many of our clients are multinational. They may be legal residents of multiple countries, or have businesses that are typically headquartered in the U.S. with branches in other countries, or both. Or they may have beneficiaries or heirs who were either born or took up residence outside the U.S., often with dual citizenship.
In addition, the countries they live and work in have multiple distinct tax jurisdictions for both individuals and businesses on behalf of the central government, the regional government, and the local government – each with its own income and profit tax system. And sometimes they overlap! It’s a highly complex web. And each multinational case is entirely unique. When we first meet, our clients’ tax exposure often threatens not just their own financial stability, but the future of their business and their family.
This is the sort of complexity we frankly relish – becoming fluent in the rules that apply to foreign companies with US citizens, and working with local counsel, especially at the planning and administration stages, to discover the financial opportunities for our clients wherever they are. It could mean we restructure their company from a C corp to an LLC, or leverage tax treaties or take advantage of foreign tax credits to avoid double taxation. We often draft more than one will for clients to protect assets in multiple international jurisdictions.
How do we help our Comprehensive U.S. & Global Tax Strategy clients?
We’ll let one of them tell you.
‶My partner and I met in law school, started our firm, and built a big enough practice that we were introduced to somebody to run our family office. And Phil was brought in as the attorney to handle our estate, help with the tax strategies, implement them on a legal level, and be an all around great guy, which he is.
He’s really bright. If he reads something or learns something, he retains it. He’s got a good pedigree, very good listener, and he does things based upon what he knows our desires are. We needed him to build our path to financial security, for us and those who come after us, kids, grandkids. And he’s always looking out for the next couple steps which entrepreneurs like us need because we’re not following someone else’s lead, right? We need to know what could happen, a, b, or c, and he can tell you. So financially, longterm, even short term, he can help write the script before you go down the road.
Text him, email him, call him any time of day, he’s just very welcoming. Very approachable. He has no ego. If he’s not confident about something, he’ll tell you, go research it and make sure it’s right because our life is in his hands and he holds that responsibility on his shoulders. He’s always figuring out how you can leave the most wealth possible and how you can also take advantage of your current situation so you’re enjoying life, too. He always says, ‘You need to enjoy some, too.’ I appreciate that!
I trust him 1000%. He wants what’s best for us. And he cares. He adds so much more value than what we pay him that we’d find it near impossible to get rid of him.″
– RK
