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Asset protection: the missing chapter from the family office manual
The International Family Offices Journal
Vol. 1 - Iss. 2 pp. 39–42
Dec 2016
Donald Hess, a wealthy Swiss businessman, was not happy when his wife of 20+ years sued him for divorce. He was even less pleased when she went after his $200 million estate. Fortunately, so he thought, he had the foresight to have her sign a marital agreement providing that, in the event of a break-up, she would receive only a few million dollars. But she was not happy with that. Hess was concerned in spite of the marital agreement that the courts often find a way to favour the ?poorer' spouse and therefore, shortly after the divorce was filed, he established an offshore trust to which he contributed the bulk of his $200 million estate.