FatFIRE and Estate Planning
Been following this community for about a month.
Around 30–35% of our net worth is in US assets (mostly ETFs/stocks). We have a minor child, and somewhere along the way I started thinking about estate planning.
I spoke to my CA this week, and he said this is an absolute must if you have meaningful US assets. He shared a case where one of his clients, who worked at the world’s largest chip company, passed away unexpectedly leaving behind around ₹30 Cr in US assets. The family had to deal with US estate tax exposure and then wait a couple of years for probate before they could access the money.
That conversation honestly shook us a bit.
I’ve probably spent hundreds of hours thinking about investing, tax optimization, asset allocation, etc., but almost no time thinking about what happens if I’m gone tomorrow.
We’re still a few years away from where I’d consider ourselves comfortably in FatFIRE territory, but this feels like something that shouldn’t wait until then.
What surprised me is that I hardly see estate planning discussed here. Maybe people are doing it and just don’t talk about it?
For those who have already done it or are currently in the process, I’d love to hear your experience.
What did your estate plan include?
If you hold US assets as a non-US resident, how did you structure it?
Did you use trusts, wills, life insurance, or something else?
Anything you wish you had known earlier?
Not looking for legal advice. Just trying to learn from people who’ve already been through this.