\n A change of residence can test a wealth structure in ways that were not apparent when it was established. Nirav Shah argued that families need to consider access, flexibility and control from the outset, rather than assume that the circumstances behind their original plan will endure.\n <\/p>\n
Speaking on the third panel at the Hubbis Wealth Planning & Structuring Forum Hong Kong 2026, Nirav Shah, Founder and Managing Director at FAME Advisory DMCC, discussed how cross-border families can assess structures against disruption and changing personal circumstances. His contribution focused on whether an arrangement remains usable when the family\u2019s situation moves on.<\/p>\n
Key Takeaways<\/p>\n
\n\tThe objectives behind a structure may need to be revisited when the family\u2019s circumstances change.
\n\tA change in an individual\u2019s residence and a change in the position of structured assets are separate questions that need to be assessed.
\n\tAccess to assets during disruption is a practical test of whether an arrangement serves the family.
\n\tFlexibility, including the ability to change or redomicile a structure where appropriate, needs consideration at the design stage.
\n\tControl arrangements should be reviewed in the context of family members living across different jurisdictions.
<\/p>\n
\nPlan for Circumstances That May Not Last<\/p>\n
Shah began with the limits of planning around a fixed set of assumptions. Families establish structures to meet particular objectives, but those objectives sit within circumstances that can change. A relocation intended to support a long-term plan may itself be interrupted.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour structure needs to have that flexibility as well,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
His response was to consider how the arrangement could adapt, including whether it could be changed or redomiciled and how the family would retain access to its assets. These were questions to address when the structure was being designed, rather than only after a disruption had occurred.<\/p>\n
The broader lesson was about the uncertainty of outcomes. A family may know what it wants to achieve without being able to assume that the surrounding conditions will remain favourable throughout the life of the arrangement.<\/p>\n
Distinguish Personal Residence from the Position of Assets<\/p>\n
Drawing on his work with families relocating to Dubai, Shah distinguished changes in an individual\u2019s tax residence from the position of assets already placed within a structure. He described situations in which a person\u2019s residence changed while the assets remained in their existing arrangement.<\/p>\n
That distinction did not remove the possibility of tax consequences for the individual. Rather, his point was that personal residence and the structure should be examined separately instead of assuming that a change in one necessarily produced the same change in the other.<\/p>\n
He also drew attention to the geographical spread of assets. Liquid investments and property may be held in different places from the jurisdiction in which a structure is established. Understanding that distribution is part of assessing how the arrangement will function when the family\u2019s circumstances change.<\/p>\n
Make Access a Practical Test<\/p>\n
Shah\u2019s assessment of a structure extended beyond its formal establishment. He asked whether the family could access the relevant assets during a difficult period and whether that access had actually helped.<\/p>\n
This placed the emphasis on the family\u2019s experience of the arrangement. A structure that continues to exist may still need review if the people it is meant to serve cannot use it in the way they expected.<\/p>\n
He described recent uncertainty as a reason for families to revisit where access lay and whether existing arrangements continued to work. The exercise connected the design of the structure with its practical usefulness under changed conditions.<\/p>\n
Consider Ownership and Control Together<\/p>\n
The panel also explored the different ways in which trusts and foundations can hold family wealth. In discussing foundations, Shah focused on their separate legal personality and ability to hold assets in their own name. He referred to the use of foundations in the Dubai International Financial Centre and Abu Dhabi Global Market as part of the range of options available to families.<\/p>\n
His discussion of control was more broadly applicable. The desire to retain authority over assets, he said, was not confined to one region. For a family with members resident in different countries, however, the way that authority is exercised needs to be considered across the whole arrangement.<\/p>\n
He described circumstances in which families would need to cede control to professionals or others and consider how it could be managed indirectly. The relevant questions therefore include who makes decisions, where that person is based and how those responsibilities fit the family\u2019s circumstances.<\/p>\n
Review the Arrangement as the Family Evolves<\/p>\n
Shah returned to the need for regular reassessment. Families may need to reconsider their structures, the location of control and their routes of access as external conditions change.<\/p>\n
Family complexity can also arise from the number of people involved and differences in their ability to take responsibility. A structure has to accommodate those realities as well as the assets it holds.<\/p>\n
His central argument was to build flexibility into the original design and then test it against experience. The value of a structure becomes clearer when circumstances change and the family needs it to keep working.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A change of residence can test a wealth structure in ways that were not apparent when it was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":822497,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[84,4176,4174,4175,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-822496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-business","tag-finance","tag-personal-finance","tag-personalfinance","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/822496","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=822496"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/822496\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/822497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=822496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=822496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=822496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}