01
Transparent from the start
Understand the options, responsibilities, scope, and cost before deciding whether to proceed.
Estate planning, across borders
What you’ve built.
What comes next.
Turn complex estate, asset-protection, and cross-border questions into a clear plan. Compare the structures, understand the trade-offs, and know what happens next.
Explore the jurisdiction guides12jurisdictionsTrusts & foundationsone connected networkYour prioritiesthe starting point
Your estate planning brief
A clearer starting point
2 of 3 · Your priorities
Your preparation checklist
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Plan with perspective.Family successionBusiness continuityCross-border estatesClear responsibilities
Why EstateGlobal exists
A modern way through
a traditional industry.
Our mission is to make estate planning, lawful global asset protection, and cross-border legal structures easier to understand, more reasonably priced, and more secure and technology-forward.
02
Efficient by design
Structured online intake, proven templates, and an organised back office reduce repetition and unnecessary professional hours.
03
Security-minded
We ask for only what is needed at each stage and keep sensitive details out of the public-facing planning tools.
04
Expert where it matters
Technology creates efficiency. Qualified professionals provide the judgement, review, and bespoke advice.
Trust or foundation?
The difference,
in plain English.
They can pursue similar estate-planning goals, but their legal architecture—and your experience of managing them—are different.
Trust
How it works
A trust is a legal relationship rooted in common-law systems. A trustee holds and manages assets under a trust deed for beneficiaries or an agreed purpose.
What matters to you
The trustee, the deed, and fiduciary duties sit at the centre. You need confidence in who will make decisions, how they are supervised, and what powers you retain.
Foundation
How it works
A foundation is a separate legal entity, a form especially familiar in civil-law systems. The foundation owns its assets and a council governs it under its charter and regulations.
What matters to you
It can feel more like an organisation with a constitution and board. Council membership, oversight, beneficiary rules, and succession between decision-makers become central.
Choosing well
There is no automatic winner
Neither structure is inherently safer, cheaper, or more tax-efficient. The answer depends on your family, assets, objectives, and comfort with the governance model.
The cross-border test
Ask how every country connected to you will recognise, tax, and report it. Historical common-law or civil-law roots are useful context—not a substitute for current local advice.
The practical questions are simple: who owns the assets, who makes decisions, which document controls those decisions, and how will the structure be treated where you live?
A longer view
Leave more than assets.
Leave a clear intention.
Good preparation makes room for the people, responsibilities, and decisions that will outlast any one document.
The EstateGlobal network
Explore the place.
Understand the structure.
12 focused guides. Each one helps you prepare the right questions, understand the responsibilities, and take a considered next step.
Foundation
Panama
Foundation governance & succession
panamafoundation.appTrust
Nevis
International trust planning
nevistrust.appTrust
Cook Islands
Trustee-led international planning
cookislandstrust.appTrust
Wyoming
Family governance & administration
wyomingtrust.appTrust
Nevada
Spendthrift & succession questions
nevadatrust.appTrust
Delaware
Trust administration & oversight
delawaretrust.appTrust
South Dakota
Multigenerational governance
sdakotatrust.appTrust
British Virgin Islands
Business ownership & succession
bvitrust.appTrust
The Bahamas
Family benefits & trustee selection
bahamastrust.appTrust
Jersey
Trustee duties & reserved powers
jerseytrust.appTrust
Guernsey
Fiduciary oversight & continuity
guernseytrust.appTrust
Cayman Islands
Purpose, ownership & trustee oversight
caymantrust.appNo jurisdictions match that search. Try another name or select “All jurisdictions.”
From intention to a considered decision
Three steps.
A more useful conversation.
Begin with a free planning brief. Decide what help you need once the questions are clear.
01
Clarify what matters
Choose your main priority and explore a jurisdiction, or keep your options open.
02
Prepare your brief
Organise your intentions, decision-makers, existing documents, and cross-border questions.
03
Scope the right advice
Ask the team about next steps. Any paid advice, formation, or administration needs an agreed scope and fee before work begins.
Clear scope. Clear price.
Know the cost before
the work begins.
Once we have the information needed to understand your situation, we provide a transparent, fixed-price quote for the agreed scope. You choose whether to proceed.
Start with the free brief →01
Share the essentials
Begin with the free planning brief. We then request only the information needed to define the work.
02
Receive a written quote
We set out the scope, fixed professional fee, assumptions, and any government or third-party costs separately.
03
Choose your service level
Select an efficient standard process or a more bespoke, higher-touch engagement for complex needs.
Streamlined service
Expert-led. Technology-enabled.
For common planning and formation needs, our online workflow, proven templates, and efficient back office reduce repetitive work. This is designed to deliver many matters at a fraction of traditional high-end private-client firm pricing, while retaining a security-minded process and expert review.
Bespoke service
More complexity. More human attention.
If you need custom drafting, multi-country coordination, unusual governance, or closer adviser access, our experts can prepare a tailored scope at a higher cost with a higher-touch service.
Every matter is different. A fixed quote is provided only after scope review; legal, tax, fiduciary, government, and third-party fees are identified separately where applicable.
Useful answers
Before you
take the next step.
Will this tell me which structure to set up?
It gives you a starting brief and questions to discuss—not a recommendation or a legal or tax conclusion. The right answer may be a trust, a foundation, changes to your existing estate plan, or no new structure at all.
What is the practical difference between a trust and a foundation?
A trust is generally a legal relationship rooted in common law: a trustee holds and manages assets under a trust deed for beneficiaries or a purpose. A foundation is a separate legal entity, a form more familiar in civil-law systems: it owns its assets and is governed by a council under a charter and regulations. For you, the important differences are ownership, decision-making, governing documents, and how every relevant country recognises, taxes, and reports the arrangement. Neither is automatically better.
How does pricing work?
The guides and first planning brief are free. Once we have enough information to understand the scope, we provide a transparent fixed-price quote before paid work begins. Our online workflow, proven templates, and efficient back office are designed to price many standard matters at a fraction of traditional high-end private-client firms while retaining security-minded processes and expert review. Bespoke drafting, complex cross-border coordination, or higher-touch support is scoped separately, and applicable government and third-party fees are itemised.
Do I have to provide financial information?
No. The checklist asks only for a planning priority and an optional jurisdiction. Keep names, account details, asset values, and sensitive documents out of this website and your initial enquiry.
Can I keep my progress?
Yes. Choose “Save on this device” after your preview. It uses this browser’s local storage, not a cloud account. You can also print or save the checklist as a PDF. Different domains have separate browser storage.
A clearer plan starts with a question.
What do you want the next chapter to look like?