How Should High-Net-Worth Expats Choose an Asset Protection Adviser?

by Adam Fayed on

 High-net-worth expats should look for an asset protection adviser who understands how their wealth is owned, where it sits and what the family needs from it.

A family business, overseas property and investment accounts may each need a different approach. Relevant experience helps an adviser understand how decisions about one could affect the others.

Before appointing them, establish who will provide legal and tax advice, who can approve decisions and how the family will access funds. The costs and responsibilities of each provider should be clear from the outset.

Adam Fayed combines asset protection planning with broader wealth planning for eligible expats and high-net-worth clients.

Key Takeaways

  • Match expertise to your ownership complexity and country connections, not just your net worth.
  • Separate coordination from legal, tax, trustee and investment responsibilities.
  • Test governance against business funding, family needs and incapacity scenarios.
  • Compare total ongoing costs and conflicts before agreeing to implementation.

We offer bespoke structuring solutions tailored to your situation. My contact details are hello@adamfayed.com and WhatsApp ‪+44-7393-450-837 if you have any questions.

The information in this article is for general guidance only, does not constitute financial, legal, or tax advice, and may have changed since the time of writing.

High-Net-Worth Expats Asset protection Advisor

What expertise should an expat asset protection adviser have for HNW expats?

Look for experience with assets and obligations like yours. Advising wealthy clients is not necessarily the same as understanding how your family's wealth works.

Listed shares are different from a business you run, a commercial building or a loan you have guaranteed personally. Ask how the adviser would approach those differences.

Does the adviser cover the jurisdictions connected to your family’s wealth?

List the countries connected to residence, citizenship, assets, companies and beneficiaries. The adviser should explain where they can help directly and where local specialists are needed.

International experience is a starting point, not an answer. Ask which countries they know well and where they would bring in local help.

Use the existing expat asset protection framework as context. Your recommendation still needs to account for where you live, where you own assets and where family members live.

Has the adviser handled family businesses and complex ownership structures?

Examples of similar work can help you judge whether the adviser has experience relevant to your family. They should explain the circumstances and their approach without revealing private client information.

For a family whose wealth is tied up in a business, the review needs to cover how that business funds both its operations and the household.

Dividends, borrowing or a future sale may provide the money the family depends on. Changes to ownership could affect that access, even if the business’s value stays the same.

Family members and business partners may also have different priorities. A founder might want to retain influence, while adult children need regular income and partners have rights under shareholder agreements.

An adviser with relevant experience should be able to explain how they would work through these issues and where legal or tax specialists need to contribute.

Which specialists do HNW expats need for asset protection?

For complex family wealth, you may need a lawyer, a tax adviser, a trustee and an investment adviser, each handling a different part.

The proposed team should identify the legal entities providing services, their relevant qualifications, and the countries covered.

Who provides legal and tax advice for the family’s assets and business interests?

Find out who checks whether a transfer is legally valid, what a creditor could reach and how the change would be taxed.

The adviser should tell you which recommendations depend on those checks. You should not be left guessing whether a specialist has approved the next step.

Adam Fayed works with specialist partners on legal, tax and fiduciary matters.

International wealth planning can connect the objectives, but it does not replace local legal or tax analysis.

For a family business, give the specialists the shareholder agreements, borrowing terms and guarantees. These can matter as much as the ownership diagram.

 Who sets up and administers the family’s wealth structures?

Distinguish the professional drafting documents from the trustee or administrator operating the arrangement.

Confirm ongoing responsibilities and reporting. The guide to fiduciary and legal providers provides background without requiring another provider ranking here.

When several firms are involved, someone needs to track what each entity owns and the responsibilities of each provider.

Each provider may see only its own account, company or trust. Someone still needs to understand how they fit together.

Take an ordinary decision, such as paying for a property, and ask the adviser to explain how it would work.

Identify who supplies information, who approves the transaction, and who checks the legal and tax implications before funds move.

How can HNW expats verify an advisor?

Check the firm you would actually sign with, its professional standing and any permissions needed for the work it will do.

Permission to give investment advice does not automatically cover legal drafting or trusteeship. Nor does it necessarily allow the firm to serve clients everywhere.

The FCA explains that firms can provide regulated and unregulated services, and that estate planning, wills and probate fall outside its listed regulated activities.

The FCA's authorization guidance explains why checks must match the activity rather than the title.

For HNWI families, also clarify where complaints and disputes are handled, who carries professional responsibility, and what protections apply.

What should an adviser explain about control and access?

The adviser should explain who can authorize distributions, direct investments, replace fiduciaries and act during incapacity.

Distinguish legal powers, nonbinding preferences and practical access to funds.

For families using trust arrangements, a letter of wishes should not be treated as a guaranteed right to direct the trustee.

Ask how the plan handles a tax bill, a business that suddenly needs funding or a dependent who needs support while the founder cannot act.

Find out which money is available and which payments need approval. Wealth tied up in property may not help with an urgent bill.

Neither an irrevocable label nor reduced control alone guarantees protection.

Adam Fayed considers structuring alongside the client’s investments and wider wealth objectives.

Ask for a written walkthrough of at least two scenarios.

One might involve an urgent business funding need; another could involve incapacity while family members live in different countries.

The walkthrough should identify authority, required documents, approval dependencies and practical delays.

A healthy balance sheet does not mean the family can reach the money it needs. The access arrangements deserve as much attention as the asset values.

Be clear about who can make decisions and who can only advise.

How should HNWIs compare asset protection adviser fees?

Compare total costs across assessment, specialist opinions, implementation, trusteeship, administration, accounting, reporting and reviews.

Request a breakdown by provider, with assumptions and exclusions.

For a multi-entity family arrangement, ask about additional charges for distributions, asset transfers, new beneficiaries, relocation, fiduciary replacement and termination.

Keep this separate from investment adviser fees.

Compare ongoing costs as well as setup costs, using the same assumptions for each proposal. A cheaper start may not mean a cheaper arrangement to maintain.

Your accountants or family office may spend time preparing valuations, accounts and ownership records. That work is part of the practical cost too.

Compare what each adviser will actually do. Different prices may reflect different amounts of work, not better or worse value.

What conflicts of interest should HNWIs ask about?

Ask for disclosure of referral payments, commissions, ownership interests and affiliations with recommended providers.

An adviser may have a legitimate relationship with a trustee or platform; the issue is whether you understand its influence and alternatives.

Request the rationale for using an affiliated provider and how compensation changes between options.

The guide to different adviser models provides background. You still need to ask about the relationships behind your own proposal.

Ask whether you can retain the adviser while using a different fiduciary and how that choice affects fees or service.

For families with existing advisers, also examine incentives to replace arrangements that are already functioning.

Switching costs, surrender charges and administrative disruption should be disclosed where relevant, not justified solely by the convenience of placing everything with one network.

What are red flags in asset protection proposals?

Warning signs include guaranteed immunity, secrecy presented as freedom from reporting, pressure to transfer assets immediately, or recommendations made without reviewing existing ownership and liabilities.

For HNWI families, also examine proposals that place all liquid wealth behind unclear distribution processes, ignore personal guarantees or omit succession conflicts.

Existing or foreseeable claims require legal review.

The article on lawsuit-related exposure explains the planning boundary.

What should expats obtain before appointing an advisor?

A written agreement should cover the work included, fees, responsibilities and the terms for ending the relationship.

Name the person coordinating the specialists and the professional responsible for each question still waiting for an answer.

For an internationally mobile family, include review triggers and the process for replacing providers.

A future change in residence may require new analysis, not merely a change of address.

If you already have a family office, accountant and lawyer, a simple list of responsibilities can help everyone see where the new adviser fits.

Record what the new adviser will take on, what stays with existing professionals and who will follow up when their work overlaps.

Professional disagreements need a clear route back to the family.

Agree how the family will hear about disagreements and who can approve the next step. Some decisions may need more specialist advice.

How should HNWI families make the appointment decision?

Select the adviser whose proposal makes complex ownership understandable and professional responsibility traceable.

Ask shortlisted advisers to explain how their approach handles business funding, family distributions and incapacity without assuming unrestricted access.

Compare their written responses alongside total costs, conflicts and jurisdictional coverage.

Before authorizing implementation, identify who accepts responsibility for every material legal, tax and fiduciary question.

If you still cannot explain who approves payments or what happens when a provider leaves, get those answers before you appoint the adviser.

FAQs

Should I hire an adviser or an asset protection lawyer?

Legal validity, documentation and existing disputes need appropriately qualified legal input.

Broader coordination may involve an adviser alongside lawyers and tax specialists.

For complex family wealth, confirm who leads the process and who accepts each professional responsibility.

Can one adviser cover every country where I hold assets?

Do not assume one adviser can provide every specialist service in every country.

They may coordinate local professionals instead.

Ask for a jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction responsibility map identifying direct expertise, external support and any gaps before committing to implementation.

Should I get a second opinion before transferring assets?

A second opinion can be useful for substantial transfers, difficult-to-reverse arrangements or recommendations involving affiliated providers.

Give the reviewing specialist the complete facts, including existing liabilities and the proposed governance.

Agree who reconciles conflicting conclusions before proceeding.

Does high net worth automatically justify an offshore trust?

No. Suitability depends on exposure, objectives, applicable law, tax treatment, costs and control requirements.

A family may need different responses for its operating business, liquid investments and property.

Existing protections or simpler changes may address some needs without adding a trust.

Who is responsible for ongoing compliance?

Responsibilities should be assigned explicitly among you, trustees, administrators and tax professionals.

Outsourcing a task does not necessarily remove your legal obligations.

Request a filing and reporting schedule, confirmation procedures, and a process for responding when information or country connections change.

What happens if I change advisers or move countries?

Review transfer and termination terms before appointment.

Changing advisers may not change the trustee, custodian or administrator.

Relocation can require fresh legal and tax analysis.

Confirm document access, continuity arrangements, replacement costs and any approvals needed to avoid disruption.

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