Moving abroad, weathering tax changes or leaving a legacy – expert advice on protecting your finances
The world feels less predictable than it has for decades. Geopolitical tensions, climate change and a wave of new tariffs are reshaping markets while a generational transfer of wealth is gathering pace, increasingly spread across multiple countries. In the UK, a sweeping overhaul of the tax regime is forcing many to reconsider plans they had assumed were settled.
Against this backdrop, financial planning that was sound five years ago may no longer be suitable. Nji Lorimer, head of Wealth Planning at Union Bancaire Privée UK, works with clients navigating these exact issues. Read on to discover three common questions from her clients and the advice she offers them.
“The business is in one place, my adult children are relocating abroad, and my spouse and I want to retire somewhere else entirely. How can we co-ordinate everything across borders?”
The conversation around global mobility has changed. Once, it made sense to think about where to live in the context of tax efficiency and the cost of living. Today, clients are weighing up a number of factors alongside the tax position – from political stability, the quality of healthcare and schools, and what kind of life they want their children to inherit.
Mobility is the new norm, and wealth spans multiple geographies, currencies, and tax regimes. For multi-jurisdictional families, the decision is rarely about a single destination – it’s about how the pieces fit together.
“The landscape is changing,” says Lorimer. “We recently had a client who is based in London with homes in Switzerland and Croatia, a family office in Dubai and a venture fund in Singapore. For a situation like this, the biggest impact we can make is co-ordinating the right team around them.
“Working alongside advisers and lawyers, we ensured that tax, trust and compliance considerations across these markets were aligned with their philanthropic objectives and cross-border estate planning, while streamlining liquidity so capital could move to where opportunities and family priorities converged.”
Good wealth planning is about flexibility. Structuring savings, investments and income so that they can move with the family, rather than tying everything to one regime, gives clients the freedom to adjust as circumstances change.
The aim is stability, not certainty – because certainty is no longer on offer.
“If we decide to stay in the UK, is there still a way to manage our tax exposure?”
Faced with soaring deficits and new spending demands, many governments are imposing higher taxes. The UK is no exception, with recent budgets aimed at increasing the tax yield on capital gains, inheritance and property, as well as on income itself.
Some analysis has suggested that wealthy and high-net-worth individuals have started to leave the UK amid these changes – one in six people on the 2024 Sunday Times Rich List do not appear in 2026 and a third no longer live on the mainland.
The abolition of the non-dom regime in April 2025 was particularly controversial, bringing foreign income and gains within reach of the UK tax authorities for the first time for many families. Higher capital gains tax rates and a major expansion of the inheritance tax net have also proved unnerving.
However, the picture is more nuanced than the headlines suggest, and many are instead choosing to stay – and to plan.
“There are families who enquire about leaving the UK but ultimately decide to stay and there are plenty of tax efficient solutions available to them,” says Lorimer. “One client we supported recently sold a significant stake in their operating company and wanted structures that preserved flexibility for the next generation.
“We helped co-ordinate the creation of numerous UK-centric structures including family investment companies, offshore bonds and business relief eligible investments. We also aligned structures with their charitable goals through a donor-advised fund and put governance in place so their adult children could participate responsibly.”
Moreover, tax is only one part of the equation for anyone considering leaving the UK. The country’s relative economic and political stability is hugely valuable. London’s status as a global economic and financial centre creates opportunity. High-quality schools, excellent international transport links and even a temperate climate are all part of the UK’s broader appeal.
“How can I make sure my legacy lives on with my family?”
As the baby boomer generation ages, parents and grandparents must work out when to start passing on wealth, how much to gift and how to retain some control. The World Economic Forum predicts that demographic trends will move roughly £60 trillion of assets to new owners over the next 20 years.
Pensions are being brought into the inheritance tax net from April 2027, and new changes will force individuals to weigh paying tax by gifting during their lifetime against a significantly higher tax exposure on death.
“Succession is far from simple, and shifts in both policy and societal norms mean the nature of our clients’ concerns are evolving,” Lorimer explains. “One of my clients recently shared that, with divorce rates increasing and family structures becoming more complex, she was worried about how to pass on her wealth to her children without it potentially going to an ex-partner due to divorce.
“We help navigate this through various solutions. Forensic cashflow planning aims to ensure they retain sufficient assets for every eventuality in their own lifetime; wealth structuring will allow them to gift in a tax-efficient manner while maintaining some controls on how these funds are spent; family governance meetings ensure that all are aligned on the overall family vision for the wealth,” Lorimer says.
Passing on money is a strategic exercise, requiring older generations to think about how much they need to retain and for how long, given uncertainties such as the cost of care later in life. Transfers may have to be planned years in advance to optimise tax efficiency. And careful thought is needed to protect families against unexpected events, such as divorce or early bereavement.
Against the backdrop of uncertainty, in an increasingly complex landscape, wealth planning can provide an element of stability. Regardless of life stage, working with experts to create a plan for your wealth and your future ensures peace of mind. Get in touch with UBP to understand which solutions are available to you.
Any services and investments may have tax consequences. Union Bancaire Privée UK Limited does not provide tax or legal advice. The level of taxation depends on individual circumstances, which can change. You should seek professional advice to understand any applicable tax or legal consequences
