Ultra-wealthy families have incorporated private trust companies into their wealth structures with increasing frequency over recent decades. Private trust companies can offer greater control over the administration of the family’s trusts and can provide greater flexibility in the management of the trust’s assets. For many families, a private trust company is a natural complement to the family office, enabling it to include fiduciary services among the services that it provides to its members. Reflecting the rising popularity of private trust companies, more jurisdictions have enacted legislation allowing them.

This handbook is a comprehensive resource for lawyers, accountants, family office executives and any others who advise ultra-wealthy families on private trust companies. Featuring chapters written by leading practitioners, it fully explores the legal, regulatory and practical dimensions of forming and operating a private trust company.

A series of chapters examines the relevant law in prime jurisdictions including Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Hong Kong, Jersey and key US states. Other chapters focus on organisational and operational issues, such as designing a private trust company’s ownership structure, implementing proper internal controls, outsourcing services, working with professional advisers, managing trust investments and managing inter-jurisdictional activities. Important matters like coordinating with the family office, communicating with family, protecting privacy and handling disputes involving private trust companies are also covered.

Contributors include practitioners from Appleby, Bedell Christin, Carey Olsen, Cadwalader, Day Pitney, Holland & Knight, McDermott Will & Emery, Meritus Trust Company, Saffery Champness, South Dakota Trust Company, Squire Patton Boggs, Walkers, Wickersham & Taft and Withers.

Private Trust Companies is a balanced, thorough and informative canter through the world of PTCs. The contributing authors are each high calibre private client advisers and this is evident from the quality of their contributions.

While PTCS may appear complex to the uninitiated, this volume explains in clear, concise and understandable terms the reasons why one may use a PTC while ensuring the reader has enough detail to adequately weigh up the pros and cons. The decision facing potential users of PTCs will often cover practical and emotional areas and this book seeks to address those areas and the challenges that family decision makers will encounter. There is also a strong focus on the regulatory and legal frameworks in which PTCs operate across a wide range of jurisdictions.

Many of the contributors draw upon relevant case studies and these highlight the issues that trustees must navigate in the delivery of their duties. This approach is very informative as it provides insight to those who may sit in a different role to the trustee. Quite often clients and other advisers do not have this perspective and this books seeks to address an often ignored position.

The in-depth approach taken by the publishers in putting this title together ensures that it will become a very valuable reference point for clients and their advisers alike.
Darren Kelland

With so many different and varied structures available for wealthy families and advisers, this book provides a detailed guide to the various legal and practical considerations involved in setting up and managing a Private Trust Company. An expansive resource, and information written by those who utilise PTC’s on a day to day basis, it covers all the practical requirements as well as focusing on key jurisdictions and operational necessities. A thoroughly comprehensive read and resource with contributions from those in the know.
Brian Carey

Babetta von Albertini
Chair, Institute for Family Governance
[email protected]

Dr Babetta von Albertini is an expert on family governance and tax law and has advised large domestic and international families on their governance and succession planning for over 20 years. She is a dual-qualified common law/civil law attorney with a PhD in law from the University of Zurich and a tax LLM from NYU.
Dr von Albertini is co-founder and chair of the Institute for Family Governance (IFG). IFG’s mission is to achieve long-term value creation for families by implementing strong governance that endures, through multidisciplinary collaboration and know-how exchange. She also assists a small number of global families with their strategic governance and succession planning, and serves as the general counsel of a New York-based SFO. Dr von Albertini is a frequent speaker, including at ACTEC, IFG, STEP and Harvard’s Families in Business executive education programme. Prior to co-founding IFG, she practised law with Withers, a global trusts and estates law firm, and Sherman & Sterling, a global capital markets law firm. Dr von Albertini currently serves on the global governance committee for STEP and formerly was elected STEP Global Council member for the United States.

Robert E Armstrong
Partner, McDonald Carano
[email protected]

Robert Armstrong is a member of the trusts and estates and tax law practice groups and serves as co-chair of the business entities and transactions practice group. He has 39 years of experience serving clients as an attorney with McDonald Carano, and as a non-practising certified public accountant. Mr Armstrong focuses his practice on estate, gift, generationskipping and income tax planning for high net worth individuals and closely held businesses, as well as the administration of trusts and estates, business and real estate transactions, and the formation and operation of family trust companies. Mr Armstrong also carries extensive experience in the area of charitable giving and tax-exempt organisations. Mr Armstrong also represents clients in the area of state and local taxation, including the Nevada Commerce Tax.
Mr Armstrong received a JD from Georgetown University Law Center, an LLM in taxation from New York University and a BSC from Santa Clara University. He is a fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, recognised by Chambers High Net Worth Guide for the State of Nevada. He serves on the Trust and Estates Section’s legislative committee of the Nevada State Bar.

Christopher W Boyett
Partner, Holland & Knight
[email protected]

Christopher Boyett co-chairs Holland & Knight’s National Private Wealth practice. He advises domestic and international wealthy families throughout Florida on sophisticated estate planning strategies and options, and counsels family businesses on succession and tax planning. Additionally, he advises both institutional and individual clients on estate and trust administration issues.
He is an adjunct professor at the University of Miami School of Law graduate programme in taxation.

John M Bunge
Associate, Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis LLP
[email protected]

John Bunge assists entrepreneurs, executives, investors and other high net worth individuals with estate planning strategies. His wealth preservation experience includes gift, estate and generation-skipping transfer tax planning and the use of irrevocable trusts – including grantortype trusts, sales to trusts, charitable interest trusts and grantor-retained annuity trusts. Additionally, Mr Bunge helps clients minimise income taxes through individual, partnership and corporate tax planning. He also provides counsel to taxexempt organisations, including private foundations and supporting organisations.
Prior to joining Waller, Mr Bunge gained experience as an associate with a tax boutique firm in Charlotte, North Carolina. He has an LLM (taxation) from the University of Florida Levin College of Law, a JD magna cum laude from the University of Alabama School of Law and a BS summa cum laude from the University of Kentucky.

Gregory E Crawford
President, Alliance Trust Company of Nevada
[email protected]

Gregory Crawford is responsible for Alliance Trust’s strategy and growth, and overseeing operations. For over two decades, he has worked with global institutions designing and implementing estate and asset protection plans for both American and international multigenerational families.
Mr Crawford is a regular speaker on the benefits and advantages of Nevada trust situs at American law schools and international industry conferences. Publications such as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and The Financial Times of London regularly quote him. Additionally, he has appeared as an on-air expert on CNBC, Bloomberg and ABC’s World News Tonight.
A native of Menlo Park, California, Mr Crawford holds a BA from the University of California, Davis and an MHA from the University of Minnesota.
Alliance Trust Company of Nevada works with attorneys, financial advisers, accountants and insurance professionals around the world providing flexible trustee services and the benefits of Nevada trust situs. Founded in 2005, Alliance Trust Company of Nevada is fully independent and 100% employee owned.

Robert Dobbyn
Partner, Walkers (Jersey) LLP
[email protected]

Robert Dobbyn is a partner in Walkers’ private capital and trusts group, specialising in all aspects of Jersey trusts and foundations law. He started his career at Withers LLP in London before moving to Jersey in 2011. Mr Dobbyn is a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners, a Jersey advocate and a (nonpractising) English solicitor.

Ashley Fife
Counsel, Carey Olsen
[email protected]

Ashley Fife, TEP, is counsel in the trusts and private wealth team of Carey Olsen Bermuda Limited. He provides advice in relation to private and commercial trusts and their underlying entities – including partnerships, companies and limited liability companies. He advises in respect of the formation of family offices and regulatory issues impacting upon trustees, corporate service providers, trusts and underlying entities, for example, FATCA and CRS, beneficial ownership registers, antimoney laundering/terrorist financing and economic substance requirements.
Mr Fife is ranked as an Up and Coming practitioner in the Chambers High Net Worth Guide 2020, for Bermuda, and as a Rising Star in the Legal 500 2019 Caribbean Guide. He also features as a leader in the Citywealth Leaders List, in which he is described as a “tremendously talented lawyer”, and is noted as One to Watch in Legal Week’s Client Global
Elite List 2019.
He is an active member of STEP, currently serving as chair of the STEP Bermuda Committee. He has also authored a number of articles and regularly presents on Bermuda trust law matters.

Aaron B Flinn
Partner, Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis LLP
[email protected]

Aaron Flinn advises business owners, corporate officers, executives, investors and families with inherited assets on trust and estate matters and wealth preservation needs. He counsels high net worth families on all facets of private family trust companies in Tennessee, including the migration of trusts and administration issues, and assists trust officers and other fiduciaries in the administration of trusts and decedents’ estates.
For both 2018 and 2019, Mr Flinn was recognised by Chambers High Net Worth Guide in the Up and Coming category. He has an LLM (graduate tax scholar) from the University of Florida, a JD from the University of Tennessee and a BS magna cum laude from the University of Tennessee.

Osvaldo Garcia
Associate, Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP
[email protected]

Osvaldo Garcia is an associate in Cadwalader’s private client group, where he focuses on international and domestic estate planning, estate and trust administration, family governance, tax controversies and matters of international regulatory compliance. Since 2017, he has been included in the Ones to Watch category of Legal Week’s Private Client Global Elite List. He also has a significant pro bono practice, where he focuses on immigration and for which he has been recognised as Pro Bono Attorney of the Year by the Hispanic National Bar Association. Mr Garcia received his JD from Cornell Law School and his BA from Florida International University. He recently received his LLM in tax at New York University.

Sasha Grinberg
Associate, Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP
[email protected]

Sasha Grinberg is a member of the private client group of Cadwalader, where she represents individuals and fiduciaries with respect to complex cross-border planning, trust and estate administration, charitable giving, trust and estate disputes and family governance. She frequently works with clients, attorneys, fiduciaries and investment advisers within and outside the United States. Ms Grinberg is a frequent speaker at industry events on a wide variety of topics affecting the private client space, has been named Rising Star in the Super Lawyers New York directory and has been included in the Ones to Watch list issued by Legal Week’s Private Client Global Elite List. She received her JD from the University of Washington and an LLM in taxation from the New York University School of Law. Ms Grinberg is fluent in Russian.

Ryan M Harding

President of a Nevada family trust company Previously, Ryan Harding was a partner in the private client practice group of McDermott Will & Emery LLP, where his practice focused on the formation and operation of family offices and private trust companies, particularly with respect to governance and succession planning for family and closely held businesses. While at the law firm, Mr Harding was a frequent author and speaker on the creation and operation of private trust companies, trust administration and investments, family businesses and succession planning, and professional responsibility and ethics in estate planning.
Mr Harding graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a BA in government and a BBA in accountancy. He then received his law degree from the University of Michigan. He is a fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel.

Nicholas Holland
Partner, McDermott Will & Emery LLP
[email protected]

Nicholas Holland is partner in McDermott’s highly respected private client department. He specialises in international trusts and estates controversies. A Canadian expatriate in London, Mr Holland also often advises Canadian individuals and institutions on matters of UK law generally. He is qualified as a lawyer in England and Wales, the Cayman Islands, British Columbia, Ireland and Ontario. He has played a key role in disputes involving the major international financial centres offshore, as well as in England, Canada and the United States. He is co-chair of the highly respected ALM/LegalWeek International Trusts and Estates Litigation Forum. He was chair of the private client summer school programme held at Cambridge University in 2018 and 2019. Mr Holland is recognised as a leading lawyer in the world’s most eminent legal guides and directories, including Chambers HNW, Chambers UK, Legal 500 and Citywealth, and was recently included in the Citywealth 2020 Top 100 Trust Litigators list.

Richard A Johnson
Partner, Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis LLP
[email protected]

According to the 2019 edition of the Chambers High Net Worth Guide, Richard Johnson is known as “the acknowledged expert in Tennessee on establishing private trust companies”. As such, he has served large family-owned and closely held businesses, high net worth individuals, family offices including their private family trust companies, and tax-exempt organisations for nearly 30 years. He has formed more than half of Tennessee’s private family trust companies. He also helped draft new legislation updating Tennessee’s private trust company law, greatly expanding the definition of a private family trust company to make Tennessee’s definition more attractive than those in other states. Mr Johnson is ranked Band 1 in the 2018 and 2019 editions of the Chambers High Net Worth Guide. He is a member of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and serves on the Family Office Exchange’s Thought Leaders Council. He has an LLM from the University of Florida, a JD from the University of Tennessee and a BA cum laude from the University of Mississippi.

Sevyn Kalsi
Senior counsel, Walkers (Jersey) LLP
[email protected]

Sevyn Kalsi joined Walkers’ Jersey office in 2018 where he is senior counsel in the private capital and trusts team. He is a private wealth specialist experienced in advising corporate trustees, settlors, beneficiaries, HNWIs and intermediaries on matters relevant to Jersey trusts and foundations. Mr Kalsi also advises on the establishment and ongoing administration of private wealth structures, including family offices and private trust companies.
Prior to joining Walkers, Mr Kalsi spent four years with another leading offshore firm in Jersey. Before moving offshore, he trained and qualified at the London law firm Payne Hicks Beach and then moved to New Quadrant Partners, a boutique private client practice. Mr Kalsi is a (non-practising) English solicitor.

Jill C Mastroianni
Associate, Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis LLP
[email protected]

Jill Mastroianni advises high net worth individuals, owners of closely held companies, executives and other clients in complex trust and estate planning matters. She is well versed in planning for retirement benefits and individuals with special needs, as well as the intricacies of conservatorships and probate. In addition, she assists clients with family offices and the formation and operation of private family trust companies under Tennessee law. Ms Mastroianni has an LLM (taxation) from New York University, a JD from Vanderbilt University Law School and qualifications in Russian language and literature from Dartmouth College.

Todd D Mayo
Executive director, senior wealth strategist, UBS
[email protected]

Todd Mayo is an executive director and senior wealth strategist at UBS. He works with ultrahigh net worth families, helping them to design and implement wealth strategies that reflect their values and goals. He helps families and individuals to create multi-generational structures for managing their wealth, fulfilling their philanthropic visions, and optimising tax effects.
Mr Mayo was a principal author of the New Hampshire Family Trust Company Act (which governs private trust companies) and the New Hampshire Foundation Act (which was the first act recognising civil law-type foundations in the United States).

Elise J McGee
Partner, McDermott Will & Emery LLP
[email protected]

Elise McGee advises high net worth individuals and business owners on all aspects of wealth transfer planning, including estate and trust administration, leveraged wealth transfer techniques, tax matters, real estate transactions and closely held business matters.
Ms McGee specialises in the formation and operation of private trust companies, and has advised clients on these structures in multiple jurisdictions while working closely with state regulators to develop customised private trust company structures for clients. Most recently, she co-drafted Wyoming’s 2019 trust company legislation. Ms McGee has analysed SEC and regulatory compliance issues facing trust companies and has helped clients develop policies and procedures for their private trust companies. She also advises clients on the litigation and regulatory risks facing private trust companies and their decision makers.

Lance N McKenzie
Partner, McDonald Carano
[email protected]

Lance McKenzie is a partner in the trusts and estates and business entities and transactions groups with McDonald Carano. His practice focuses on sophisticated estate tax planning and estate administration for high net worth individuals and businesses, including strategic planning strategies for asset protection, gift tax planning, probate and trust administration, charitable and private foundations and business transactions. His practice also encompasses transactional work, including entity formations, structuring buy–sell agreements, corporate and asset acquisitions, and reorganisations.
Mr McKenzie was previously on the board of directors for KNBP Channel 5 Public Broadcasting and is a former advisory board member for the Community Foundation of Western Nevada. He is also the author of several published articles and gives frequent seminars on estate and asset protection planning.

Dorothy Mehta
Partner, Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP
[email protected]

Dorothy Mehta is a partner in Cadwalader’s investment management practice. Her client base includes US and non-US investment advisers, wealth management platforms and family offices. She has extensive experience in the structuring and operation (domestically and on a cross-border basis) of a variety of private investment funds and products. Ms Mehta is listed as a Next Generation Lawyer in Fund Formation: Alternative/Hedge Funds by Legal 500 USA, a Highly Regarded Lawyer in Hedge Funds in IFLR 1000, and a Rising Star in Securities and Corporate Finance in the Super Lawyers New York Metro directory. She is recognised in the 2020 edition of The Best Lawyers in America as one of the nation’s leading lawyers in the area of private funds/hedge funds. Ms Mehta received her JD from Fordham and an AB from Cornell University.

Andrew Miller
Partner, Bedell Cristin
[email protected]

Andrew Miller specialises in all aspects of Cayman Islands and British Virgin Islands international wealth structuring for individuals and financial institutions. He is much recognised with awards and distinctions, including a STEP Founder’s Award and being listed in the 2018 Private Client Global Elite; and named as a Leading Individual in Trusts & Private Client Legal 500 2018 and as Highly Regarded by IFLR 2018.
He is past chairman of STEP Cayman; a founding board member of the STEP LatAm Conference and the STEP Cayman International Wealth Structuring Forum; a member of the International Tax Planning Association and The International Academy of Estate and Trust Law; and an overseas member of the Chancery Bar Association.
Prior to joining Bedell Cristin, Mr Miller was a partner and head of the global wealth structuring group at another major Cayman Islands firm for 16 years, where he had joined after 13 years at a major London law firm.

Jonathan W Motto
Partner, McDermott Will & Emery LLP
[email protected]

Jonathan Motto is a partner in the private client practice group at McDermott Will & Emery LLP, focusing his practice on counselling families, family offices, business owners, executives and individuals on all aspects of estate, gift and transfer tax planning, wealth transfer issues, estate and trust administration, charitable planning and business succession issues. His experience includes preparation and administration of wills and trusts, formation and reorganisation of closely held corporations, partnerships and limited liability companies, implementation of leveraged wealth transfer techniques, structuring and advising family offices and planning for aircraft, vessels, artwork and other special assets. Mr Motto also works extensively with clients to form and administer private trust companies in multiple jurisdictions. Mr Motto is involved in the Chicago Bar Association and serves as a director of the Legal Council for Health Justice and the Equality Illinois PAC. He is a member of the board of governors of Loyola University Chicago School of Law and a volunteer with Wills for Heroes.

Miles C Padgett
Partner, Kozusko Harris Vetter Wareh Duncan LLP
[email protected]

Miles Padgett is a partner in Kozusko Harris Duncan’s Washington, DC office. Mr Padgett focuses on tax, business and regulatory planning for family offices and their family member clients, tax planning for managers of private equity and other investment funds, and the chartering and management of private and retail trust companies for highly successful, strategic families and domestic and international financial institutions. Mr Padgett routinely writes and speaks on the topics of family governance, wealth management, and structuring and regulatory matters.
In addition to being a lawyer, Mr Padgett spent over five years as an investment consultant focusing on asset allocation and manager search and selection. Mr Padgett earned a Bachelor of Arts degree cum laude from Cornell University and a Juris Doctor degree from Vanderbilt University, where he was a member of the Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law.

James Paladino
President, South Dakota Planning Company
[email protected]

James Paladino is the president of South Dakota Planning Company (SDPC). SDPC is an estate planning and trust advisory firm for the wealthy, and a sister company of South Dakota Trust Company LLC (SDTC). SDPC is responsible for business development, industry engagement and marketing, as well as services to support SDTC such as trust planning and consulting, publications and technical support. SDTC, an independent trust company headquartered in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, is a national trust boutique specialising in providing trust administration for the wealthy. Prior to joining SDPC, Mr Paladino was a vice president and the trusts and estates counsellor at Citigroup, working with high net worth private bankers and clients, and an attorney in the trusts and estates practice at Wilson, Elser, Moskowitz, Edelman & Dicker. Mr Paladino earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration and finance from the State University of New York at Albany, his Juris Doctorate from St John’s University School of Law and his LLM in taxation from New York University.

Paolo Panico
Partner, Paolo Panico’s Law Chambers Chairman, Private Trustees SA
[email protected]

Paolo Panico is an avocat à la cour in Luxembourg, a Scottish solicitor, and an advocat in Romania. He is also chairman of Private Trustees SA, an independent trust and corporate service provider in Luxembourg. He has an academic interest in the law of trusts and foundations and teaches courses at the University of Luxembourg and the University of Liechtenstein. He has published, among other works, Private Foundations: Law and Practice (Oxford University Press, 2014) and International Trust Laws (2nd edition, Oxford University Press, 2017). He is an academic of The International Academy of Estate and Trust Law (TIAETL), deputy chairman of the International Tax Planning Association (ITPA) and chairman of the STEP Europe Region.

Christopher Reimer
Partner, Long Reimer Winegar LLP
[email protected]

Christopher Reimer’s practice consists primarily of private client services, including tax and estate planning, and also includes transactional areas of real estate, corporate law, trust and probate administration, situs planning and asset protection planning. He is a fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel.
Mr Reimer received a BS in accounting magna cum laude from the University of Wyoming in 2001, and then his JD with honours in 2004. He obtained a master of laws (LLM) in taxation from the University of Denver in 2006. He has been admitted to practise before the US Tax Court, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court. He is licensed to practise law in Colorado, Idaho, Utah and Wyoming. Mr Reimer is currently vice-chair of STEP USA, an organisation with 17 branches and chapters in the United States. He is a former and inaugural chairman of the Wyoming chapter of STEP.

Keith Robinson
Partner, Carey Olsen
[email protected]

Keith Robinson is a partner in the trusts and private wealth and dispute resolution practices of Carey Olsen Bermuda Limited. He has over 23 years’ experience in non-contentious and contentious trust and private wealth matters. He has particular expertise in high-value trust litigation and court-approved trust restructurings, often with a multi-jurisdictional element. He has represented trustees, beneficiaries, settlors and protectors in a range of cases before the Supreme Court of Bermuda and has been involved in many major trust cases in Bermuda. He advises in respect of a wide range of non-contentious Bermuda trust matters and also acts as a protector.
Mr Robinson was recognised in Legal Week’s Private Client Global Elite List 2018 and was ranked as a Band 1 practitioner in the Chambers High Net Worth Guide for Bermuda and as a Leading Individual by Legal 500 2019 Caribbean Guide, for his trusts and private wealth practice.
Mr Robinson is an active member of STEP, previously serving as chair, and continues to be a member of the STEP Bermuda Committee. He was recently invited to join the STEP Journal’s editorial board. He is also an elected member of The International Academy of Estate and Trust Law (TIAETL) and the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) as well as serving on the trust focus group and the trust law reform committee of the Bermuda Business Development Agency. He has written extensively on Bermuda law matters and is a regular speaker to audiences both in Bermuda and internationally.

Sara Schroter
General counsel, Meritus Trust Company Limited
[email protected]

Sara Schroter is general counsel and company secretary of Meritus Trust Company Limited (Meritus), a licensed Bermuda trust company regulated by the Bermuda Monetary Authority. She has a wide range of legal experience in the private client, financial services, corporate governance, commercial and litigation areas.
Ms Schroter is Bermudian/British and holds a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Exeter and a diploma in legal practice from the College of Law in London. She trained with Barlow Lyde and Gilbert in London, was admitted as a solicitor in the UK in 2006 and called to the Bermuda Bar in 2005.
Prior to joining Meritus, Ms Schroter was general counsel of Bermuda Commercial Bank and in-house counsel at AXA UK plc. She is Bermuda’s youngest chartered director, a member of the Institute of Directors, the Bermuda Bar Association and STEP Bermuda, and sits on a number of boards and committees.

Vanessa L Schrum
Partner, Appleby (Bermuda) Limited
[email protected]

Vanessa Schrum is a partner and group head of the private client and trusts practice group at Appleby (Bermuda) Limited. She first qualified as a solicitor in the UK and is admitted to the bars of Bermuda and BVI. Ms Schrum has experience on a wide range of trust and estate planning matters including Bermuda private and commercial trust structures, PTCs and administration of complex and large estates. Ms Schrum serves as a director of private and licensed trust companies and acts as a protector. She is a member of STEP, ITPA and the trust law reform committee of the Bermuda Business Development Agency. She is recognised in Chambers Global 2019 High Net Worth Guide as in “the top rank of Bermuda trust lawyers”. She is a Legal 500 Leading Individual and is named on the Citywealth Leaders List, Citywealth IFC Power Women Top 200 List, Expert Guide’s Women in Business Law and The International Who’s Who of Private Client Lawyers, and is recognised in Legal Week’s Private Client Global Elite List 2019.

Nichole D Scott
Partner, Holland & Knight
[email protected]

Nichole Scott is a partner in Holland & Knight’s Miami office and is a member of the firm’s private wealth services group. She develops and implements various structures for the transfer of wealth from one generation to the next and works with families to ensure that their wealth is preserved for as long as possible.
Ms Scott is experienced in drafting complex trusts, wills and other estate planning instruments as well as in administering trusts and estates both during the life of the settlor and upon the death of the settlor/decedent. Further, she is experienced in protecting the rights of settlors and beneficiaries through trust and estate litigation.
In addition to estate planning and estate litigation, Ms Scott is experienced in asset protection planning, including premarital and postmarital planning and the creation of asset protection trusts.
Ms Scott has been an adjunct professor at the University of Miami in the tax law LLM programme since 2008.

Amy Staehr
Partner, Long Reimer Winegar LLP
[email protected]

Amy Staehr’s practice consists primarily of trust, estate and tax planning, with emphasis on international issues, wealth succession and preservation, state income tax, statutory foundations and private family trust companies.
Ms Staehr received a BA in English, graduating magna cum laude with honours from Dartmouth College in 1996, and then her MA in English from the University of Texas at Austin in 2001. She later received her JD with honours from the University of Wyoming College of Law in 2011, where she was managing editor of the Wyoming Law Review. She has been admitted to practise law in Wyoming, Colorado and California. Ms Staehr serves as a director of the Teton County Library Foundation and the Teton Literacy Center. She is a member of the Open Space Council of the Jackson Hole Land Trust and is a former chairman of the Wyoming chapter of STEP.

John L Stansbury
Partner, Holland & Knight
[email protected]

John Stansbury practises in Holland & Knight’s Miami office and is a member of the firm’s private wealth services group. He advises clients seeking to efficiently transfer and preserve wealth from one generation to the next, and helps them achieve their goals by developing and implementing various estate planning structures tailored to their needs. Mr Stansbury concentrates his practice on drafting complex trusts, wills and other estate planning instruments. Further, he is experienced in trust and estate administration both during the life and following the death of the settlor/decedent, as well as in protecting the rights of settlors and beneficiaries through trust and estate litigation. Additionally, he is experienced in asset protection planning, including premarital and postmarital planning and the creation of asset protection trusts.

Matthew Tobin
COO and legal counsel, South Dakota Trust Company LLC President, SDTC Services LLC
[email protected]

Matthew Tobin is COO and general legal counsel for South Dakota Trust Company LLC in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. His primary responsibilities include business management, legal, risk management, human resources and public relations/legislation.
Mr Tobin also serves as president of SDTC Services LLC, which is also located in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. SDTC Services LLC provides consulting services to the nondepository trust company industry. As president, he is primarily responsible for managing the company’s private and public trust company client relationships. He serves as board director and committee member for several private and public trust companies, and has experience and specialised knowledge in the areas of trust company management, organisation, compliance and fiduciary standards.
Mr Tobin also serves as director of the SDTC Foundation and treasurer of the SDTC Companies PAC, and is a board member of the South Dakota Trust Association.

Joseph J Viviano
Associate, McDermott Will & Emery LLP
[email protected]

Joseph Viviano is a US lawyer whose practice focuses on matters relating to estate planning, estate administration and controversies involving trusts and estates. He regularly advises clients on matters pertaining to US income and transfer taxes, the formation and regulation of private trust companies and taxexempt organisations, and matters pertaining to litigation and controversy avoidance. His clients include many of the largest US banks and trust companies, ultra-high net worth individuals and families, private trust companies and family offices.

Michelle L Wolfe
Managing director, Meritus Trust Company Limited
[email protected]

Michelle Wolfe is a founding partner of Meritus Trust Company Limited (Meritus), a licensed Bermuda trust company regulated by the Bermuda Monetary Authority. She manages a dynamic team of 20 professionals who are passionate about exceeding families’ expectations, supporting the trust industry in Bermuda and blazing a trail as a female-led, owner-managed independent trust company. Prior to starting Meritus Ms Wolfe was managing director of Rothschild Trust (Bermuda) Limited, Coutts Bermuda Limited and Butterfield Trust (Bermuda) Limited. She has spent her career working with and advising multi-jurisdictional and multigenerational families establishing and administering charitable trusts, discretionary trusts and private trust companies.
Ms Wolfe is a Canadian chartered accountant, the past president of the Bermuda Association of Licensed Trustees (BALT), a member of the trust focus group of the Bermuda Business Development Association (BBDA) and a member of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants and the Bermuda Institute of Chartered Accountants. She has master’s degrees in business and human resources.

Patricia Woo
Partner and co-head of global family office team, Squire Patton Boggs
[email protected]

Patricia Woo is a fund, trust and tax lawyer noted for her practice in helping global ultrahigh net worth families set up, restructure and operate family offices. She is recognised in Who’s Who Legal: Thought Leaders – Private Client, 1st edition (2020) and is the recipient of the 2020 International Advisory Experts High Net Worth award in Hong Kong. She is listed in the 2019 Citywealth Leaders List Top 10 Professionals in China and Hong Kong, the Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2019, Who’s Who Legal: Private Client 2019 and Citywealth Leaders List 2019. She is also ranked in Chambers HNW 2019 and recognised in the Citywealth 2019 International Powerwomen Top 100 and the 2017 IFC Powerwomen Top 200.
Ms Woo is a chartered alternative investment analyst, certified tax adviser, member of the Academy Community of STEP and a certified Islamic finance executive. She is adjunct associate professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of Hong Kong and adjunct assistant professor at the College of Law of the National Chengchi University of Taiwan. She is also an honorary fellow of the Asian Institute of International Financial Law and an attorney-author with Baker McKenzie Link and LexisNexis.