All articles by James Bowden

The advantages of private foundations

By | Emigration and immigration, Foundations and Trusts, Residency, Succession planning and transfer to next generation, James Bowden | 6 min read

A private foundation is a corporate entity with separate legal personality, but which has no owners, and therefore does not issue shares or other ownership interests. It is established by a founder who contributes initial funds or assets to the foundation. The foundation is governed by its constitutional documents, which typically consist of a charter and bylaws, and a governing body called directors or council members. There will typically also be a guardian or enforcer who is empowered to supervise the directors to ensure they are...

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private foundation

Tax planning and moving to Canada

By | Emigration and immigration, Estate planning, Foundations and Trusts, Residency, Succession planning and transfer to next generation, Tax Planning, James Bowden | 4 min read

The Importance of Tax Planning when moving to Canada For anyone planning to immigrate to Canada, or former Canadian residents preparing to return after a period of non-residency, it is worth taking the time to do some pre-immigration tax planning. It may well be that the Canadian tax environment is a lot more aggressive than where you’re coming from. If you wait until after you arrive to start arranging your affairs, it will be too late. Each personal or family situation will be unique and will benefit from bespoke professional advice, but...

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moving to canada, tax planning

International Estate Administration from a Canadian perspective

By | Cross-border estate planning, Estate planning, Estate taxes and duties, Residency, Tax Planning, James Bowden | 10 min read

International Estate Administration for Canadian executors or beneficiary The administration of an estate can be a complex and intimidating process at the best of times. If the estate in question has international components to it, the complexity increases and professional guidance will almost certainly be essential. This article will provide an overview of some of the issues that arise in the context of estate administration with international elements, from the perspective of a Canadian executor or a Canadian beneficiary. There are a...

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international estate administration

Trusts and the importance of discretion

By | Estate planning, Foundations and Trusts, James Bowden | 8 min read

Controlling your Trust - A Matter of Some Discretion Two common reasons for the use of trusts in estate planning are to achieve tax efficiencies and to protect assets from potential creditors and claims.  These are by no means the only reasons that trusts are utilized, but they are important benefits and are sometimes the primary focus of trust structure.  Generally speaking, trusts that provide tax and asset protection benefits need to be structured so as to grant the trustees very wide discretion as to when distributions are to be made,...

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discretion

Wealth planning and offshore trust structures

By | Foundations and Trusts, James Bowden | 6 min read

Choosing the Right Offshore Jurisdiction Wealth and estate planning that make use of so-called offshore trust structures are popular. Such structures are useful for many reasons, including to support individuals and families who are seeking a change in residency, and to offer longevity, predictability and security that is not always available in one’s home country. They can more readily adapt to beneficiaries in different and changing jurisdictions, and in the right circumstances they can offer tax efficiencies. If you have determined that...

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offshore trust structures, wealth planning

Tax-Driven Changes in Residency

By | Estate taxes and duties, Foundations and Trusts, Residency, Tax Planning, James Bowden | 7 min read

Tax-Driven Changes in Residency For those with sufficient assets, tax-driven relocations and changes in residency have become commonplace. They began to occur in earnest in the 1990s and have increased in popularity ever since. In the past 1-2 years in particular, the popularity of residency changes for tax reasons has seen a marked rise. This has been driven by several factors, which include: the steady reduction in other viable international tax planning strategies as the OECD continues to press aggressive reform, more mobile lifestyles...

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tax-driven changes in residency