Financial planning support for STEP practitioners & trust and estate professionals
STEP practitioners and trust and estate professionals regularly encounter clients whose legal, tax and succession planning extends across more than one jurisdiction.
The legal or fiduciary structure may be clear, but the client can still need help coordinating pensions, investments, retirement assets, beneficiaries, protection and liquidity around that structure.
Josh Clancey works alongside STEP practitioners and other trust and estate professionals where financial planning needs to sit alongside specialist legal, tax, trust or fiduciary advice.
Financial planning alongside trust and estate work
Josh's role is financial planning rather than legal, tax or fiduciary advice.
That can include reviewing pensions, investments, retirement accounts, protection, cash flow, beneficiary arrangements and the wider financial position where these need to be coordinated with an established trust, estate or succession strategy.
Typical areas of financial-planning involvement include pensions, investment portfolios, retirement accounts, beneficiary nominations, estate liquidity, protection, inherited wealth, family assets across several jurisdictions, implementation following legal or tax advice and ongoing wealth management where appropriate.
The relevant STEP practitioner, lawyer, tax adviser, trustee or fiduciary remains responsible for matters within their own professional remit.
Client situations where trust, estate and financial planning commonly intersect
A client has assets and beneficiaries in several countries
International families may hold pensions, investments, property and other assets across multiple jurisdictions.
Financial planning can help coordinate the asset side of the family's affairs alongside the wider succession and legal framework.
A client has significant pension wealth
Pension assets may follow different beneficiary and distribution rules from personally owned assets.
They can therefore require separate financial-planning review alongside the client's estate plan.
A family includes US and non-US persons
US citizenship, US beneficiaries, retirement accounts or US-situs assets can introduce additional planning considerations alongside the trust or estate structure.
A US person is a beneficiary of a non-US trust
Specialist tax and legal advice may be required before the client's personal financial planning can be developed or implemented.
A client has received a significant inheritance
The legal and tax work may establish the client's entitlement, while the beneficiary still needs to decide how the capital should fit into their retirement, investment and family planning.
A family needs additional estate liquidity
A substantial estate can still face practical liquidity challenges where wealth is concentrated in property, private businesses, pensions or other less-liquid assets.
Questions that may indicate a wider financial-planning need
Are the client's pensions aligned with the wider succession plan?
Beneficiary nominations and retirement assets may need separate review.
Does the family have sufficient accessible liquidity?
Asset value and available cash are not the same thing.
Are investment arrangements consistent with the wider structure?
The legal or fiduciary framework may be appropriate while the underlying investment strategy still requires review.
Are beneficiaries internationally dispersed?
Different residence, citizenship and family circumstances can create additional coordination issues.
Has a major inheritance or distribution changed the client's position?
A beneficiary may require a new investment, retirement or cash-flow strategy after receiving substantial assets.
Does the client have US connections?
US citizenship, beneficiaries, trusts, retirement accounts or US-situs assets may require specialist coordination before implementation.
Does the client's lifetime plan still work?
Succession planning should be considered alongside the client's own retirement, spending and liquidity requirements.
Professional resources for STEP practitioners & trust and estate professionals
The Document Centre includes technical briefs, professional guides and practical checklists covering cross-border estate and beneficiary planning, pension death benefits, non-US trusts, US-situs assets, estate liquidity, inherited wealth and international families.
These resources are designed to help identify where financial planning may need to sit alongside trust, estate, legal or fiduciary work.
Useful resources for STEP practitioners & trust and estate professionals
The Professional Adviser's Guide to Cross-Border Estate and Beneficiary Planning
A broader professional guide covering pensions, investments, beneficiaries and internationally held assets.
Cross-Border Beneficiary and Estate Coordination
A focused technical brief covering the financial-planning issues that may need to be coordinated with legal and succession work.
Pension Death Benefits, Nominations and Wills
A technical resource examining pension beneficiary arrangements and their interaction with wider estate planning.
US Persons as Beneficiaries of Non-US Trusts
A professional resource covering the financial-planning considerations that may arise where a US person benefits from a non-US trust.
International Estate Planning Coordination Checklist
A practical checklist for reviewing pensions, investments, beneficiaries, insurance and other financial assets alongside trust and estate work.
US Person and Non-US Trust Red Flag Checklist
A practical checklist for recognising circumstances where further tax, legal or financial-planning coordination may be required.
Pensions, investments and estate liquidity
A trust or estate plan can be technically well structured while important financial assets remain outside the core discussion.
Pensions may have separate beneficiary arrangements. Investment accounts may be personally owned or held through different structures. Insurance may have a specific liquidity purpose. The client may also depend on some of the same assets to fund retirement.
Financial-planning work can help assess whether the client's pensions, investments, protection and accessible capital remain aligned with the wider plan.
That can include reviewing beneficiary nominations, investment concentration, retirement-income needs, liquidity, protection and the practical implementation of recommendations.
Working alongside the professional team
Where the legal, tax or fiduciary position has already been established, Josh can work from that advice rather than duplicate it.
For example:
- the STEP practitioner coordinates succession planning, while Josh reviews pensions, investments and beneficiary arrangements
- the trustee or fiduciary manages the relevant structure, while Josh considers the client's personal financial plan separately
- the tax adviser establishes the treatment of a distribution, while Josh considers how the client should use or invest the resulting capital
- the lawyer advises on wills or trust arrangements, while Josh reviews estate liquidity and protection
- the professional team identifies an international estate issue, while Josh considers the pension, investment and retirement implications
Josh does not draft wills, establish trusts, act as trustee or provide specialist legal or tax advice outside his remit.
Where a financial recommendation depends on a legal, tax or fiduciary conclusion, that position should be established by the relevant professional first.
Technical briefings for trust and estate teams
Josh can provide focused briefings for STEP practitioners, trust professionals, estate-planning teams and fiduciaries dealing with internationally mobile families.
Topics can include cross-border beneficiary planning, pension death benefits, US-situs assets, non-US trusts, estate liquidity and international financial planning.
Have a client case you would like to discuss?
If a trust, estate or succession matter has highlighted a pension, investment, beneficiary, liquidity or wider financial-planning issue, an initial discussion can help establish whether Josh is likely to add value.
There is no requirement to make a formal introduction simply to determine whether the case falls within his remit.