Services

We advise German-American families, Americans living in Germany, and Americans with assets in Germany on German-American estate planning, taking into account the tax consequences (estate planning). Our services include:

• Reviewing existing Wills and trust documents; 
• Drafting German Wills and coordinating the German Will with the U.S. estate plan; 
• Advising on the German inheritance (Erbschaftsteuer), German gift tax (Schenkungsteuer), and their interplay with U.S. federal estate tax; 
• Advising on the impact of the U.S.-Germany Estate and Gift Tax Treaty and the U.S.-Germany Income Tax Treaty;
• Advising on lifetime transfers to mitigate the German inheritance and gift tax; 
• Advising on the structuring of U.S. Wills and trusts to mitigate German inheritance and gift tax;
• Preparing a living Will (Patientenverfügung) and Health care proxy (Vorsorgevollmacht).

Planning tools include, for example

• Testament (Will);
• U.S. trusts;
• German trust equivalents; 
• Joint bank accounts (Gemeinschaftskonten);
• Joint tenancy (Gesamtgut mit Anwachsungsrecht);
• German payable on death account (Vertrag zu Gunsten auf den Todesfall);
• German transfer on death accounts (Vertrag zu Gunsten auf den Todesfall);
• Foreign payable on death accounts and transfer on death accounts; 
• Life insurance policies (Lebensversicherungsverträgen);
• Retirement account (Altersvorsorgepläne); 
• Annuities (Rentenversicherungen);
• (revocable) Lifetime gifts (Schenkungen) with or without retained life estate (Nießbrauch);
• Chain Gifting (Kettenschenkung).

In-Person Consultation and Remote Consultation

We typically provide advice via remote communication (Zoom, telephone, e-mail). We offer in-person consultations in Berlin and Munich.

Cooperation with US lawyers for estate planning

We are happy to work together with our clients' American estate planning lawyer. If you don't yet have a lawyer in the U.S., we can also recommend an estate planning attorney in many States.