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CLE Materials

It's becoming more common to see non-US Citizens who need estate planning done here in the States and lots of issues surround this topic that could be pitfalls for international clients. We will do a brief overview explaining non-US citizen statuses, what a non-US citizen who has assets here in the States needs to know about taxes (and how American policies may differ from other countries), international treaties, beneficiary considerations, litigation issues, and the importance of coordinating with counsel in both American and foreign jurisdictions.

NAPABA did not seek CLE for this program; however, this live webcast may be eligible for CLE credit in your jurisdiction. Please follow-up directly with your jurisdiction in order to self-apply for CLE credit.

Presented by NAPABA's Trusts & Estates and Immigration Committees

Panelists

• Stacie Chau, Holland & Knight (Moderator) — Stacie L. Chau is an attorney in Holland & Knight's Los Angeles office and a member of the firm's Private Wealth Services Dispute Resolution Team. Ms. Chau's practice focuses on complex trusts and estates litigation and administration. Ms. Chau aims to provide the most efficient resolution to disputes, always keeping in mind the best interests of her clients and the complex issues and emotions that probate litigations often involve. Whether through mediation, alternative dispute resolutions or trial, Ms. Chau is with her clients every step of the way to navigate through the dispute and achieve successful results. Representing Professional Fiduciaries: Ms. Chau has experience in representing professional fiduciaries in complex trust and estate administration and litigation. In working with professional fiduciaries in the administration of complex trust and estate matters, Ms. Chau is also experienced with spotting and identifying tax issues related to federal estate tax returns and gift tax returns.
  
  
• Ganesh Kalyanaraman, Law Office of Ganesh Kalyanaraman — For close to twenty years Ganesh Kalyanaraman has helped organizations identify, develop, and implement immigration sponsorship programs. He advises multinational corporations on various employment and investor-related immigration issues, focusing on strategic immigration planning for U.S. and international companies for the international relocation of personnel. Ganesh addresses global personnel's visa and work authorization needs, including professionals, managers and executives, treaty investors/traders, essential workers, persons of extraordinary ability, corporate trainees, and students. He represents companies facing government investigations or audits and works proactively with companies to develop immigration and compliance policies and conduct internal assessments. Ganesh is currently on the AILA's Online Course and Recorded Content Review Committee, AILA University Committee, and Board of Governors. He is the Co-Chair of the Immigration Committee of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA). Ganesh has frequently spoken at trade associations, professional organizations, and national bar associations' conferences.
  
  
• Shu-Ping Shen, Loeb & Loeb LLP —  Shu-Ping Shen focuses his practice on domestic and international trusts and estate planning, with a particular emphasis on gift, estate and generation-skipping tax planning for high-net-worth individuals and families. His practice includes the preparation of wills and trusts, estate and trust administration, and the representation of fiduciaries and beneficiaries in this regard. He also has experience counseling clients on charitable planning, including making charitable gifts and establishing public charities and private foundations. Shu-Ping Shen focuses his practice on domestic and international trusts and estate planning, with a particular emphasis on gift, estate and generation-skipping tax planning for high-net-worth individuals and families. His practice includes the preparation of wills and trusts, estate and trust administration, and the representation of fiduciaries and beneficiaries in this regard. He also has experience counseling clients on charitable planning, including making charitable gifts and establishing public charities and private foundations. 
  
  
• Masaya Uchino, Uchino Law — Masaya Uchino (“Mas”) was born and raised in White Plains, New York. Both his parents are Japanese and were foreign entrepreneurs in the US - his dad owned a Japanese grocery store and his mom owned and operated two Kumon classrooms. He only spoke Japanese with his parents while growing up and developed a strong interest for Japanese culture, including its food, music, calligraphy, manga/anime, and various other subcultures. After becoming a lawyer, Mas dedicated the majority of his career to assisting Japanese businesses and entrepreneurs. After living through the challenges of the language barrier and cultural differences that his parents faced as foreign entrepreneurs, Mas became passionate about being able to explain US legal issues to Japanese businesses and entrepreneurs in a simple yet comprehensive manner. Over the last 11 years, Mas has assisted dozens of Japanese businesses and entrepreneurs with cross-border M&A transactions as high as over a billion dollars, complex cross-border litigation that spanned many years, and a wide range of corporate and general business matters. Mas has also been dealing with the challenges of cross-border estate planning issues with his parents. He decided that he would like to use what he has learned from his own experience to assist other Japanese families with the estate planning process in the US. Mas also dedicates part of his practice to assisting social enterprise and nonprofits. Before and during law school, Mas dedicated a lot of his time to assisting international human rights profits such as Physicians for Human Rights, Stop Genocide Now, the Asian Law Caucus and the Hastings to Haiti Partnership. These experiences formed Mas' interest in the field of law.
  
  
• Sara Pedlow, McLellan Herbert, Barristers & Solicitors — Sara Pedlow is the Vice Chair of the Canadian Bar Association Wills and Trusts (Vancouver) subsection and a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners, a global professional body comprised of lawyers, accountants, financial advisors and other practitioners that help families plan for their future. Prior to joining McLellan Herbert, Sara practiced in the area of wills, estates and trusts at a leading international law firm. Sara currently sits on the Mentorship Committees of the British Columbia Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers and the Canadian Bar Association (BC Branch) Women Lawyers Forum.