The solution
The tax is a cash problem. Life insurance is a cash answer.
US estate tax is due in cash, and quickly. Life insurance delivers exactly that: US dollars, at the moment they are needed, to a beneficiary you name. Structured properly, the proceeds both pay the tax and sit outside your US taxable estate. Your family keeps the apartment and the portfolio, instead of selling them to pay the bill. This is what we place and coordinate.
The short answer
A US life-insurance policy on the life of a non-US person is not itself a US-situated asset, and the death benefit is generally received free of US income tax. Owned correctly, it also sits outside the US taxable estate, so it pays the tax without enlarging it. Coverage is typically sized to the estimated bill: roughly 40% of US-situated assets above the $60,000 exemption. Non-residents can qualify, though US law requires the application, the medical exam, and delivery of the policy to take place on US soil.
What a policy does
One instrument, two jobs the tax makes essential.
Liquidity, on time
The death benefit is immediate US-dollar cash, typically paid within weeks. It settles the estate-tax bill without a forced sale of US real estate or shares at whatever price the market offers that year. The policy pays the tax; the family keeps the assets.
Outside the estate
A policy on your own life is not itself a US-situated asset. Owned correctly, the death benefit is not only the cash to pay the tax, it also sits outside your US taxable estate, so it does not enlarge the very problem it solves. It is generally received free of US income tax as well.
How much
Enough to cover the bill, sized to your exposure.
As a starting point, coverage is sized to the estimated tax: roughly 40% of your US-situated assets above the $60,000 exemption. That is the figure our estimator produces. From there, your advisors refine it for growth, currency, existing liquidity, and the shape of your estate. The goal is simple: the policy should be large enough that no US asset has to be sold to pay the tax.
Getting it right
Who owns the policy is what makes the exclusion real.
Ownership is not a detail. For some non-US persons, holding the policy personally is enough. For others, a future immigrant, a US-person owner, or a resident of a country whose carrier requires it, a US trust or entity should own the policy so the proceeds stay outside the estate. This is part of issuing the policy correctly, not an afterthought, and it is where our coordinated bench of cross-border attorneys and trustees earns its place.
A single, coordinated visit to US soil.
By law, the application, the medical exam, and the delivery of a US policy all take place on US soil. We treat that as white-glove coordination, not an obstacle: one well-planned visit, with the paperwork, the trust, and the exam arranged around it. For residents of certain countries, a US-based trust must own the policy from the start, so we set that up before you travel, not after.
How we choose
Independent, and carrier-neutral by design.
We are not tied to one insurer. We place across a panel of major US carriers and match the product to the need, whole life, guaranteed universal life, or indexed universal life, rather than the other way around. It is also a matter of coverage: no single carrier can write every country, so a panel is what lets us find a fit when one insurer cannot. The product follows the plan, never the reverse.
Built to protect heirs, never to bypass them.
In many of the countries we serve, a share of the estate is reserved for family by law. Life insurance here is not a way around that. It is liquidity that satisfies the tax and protects the reserved share, so heirs receive what is theirs without the estate being sold out from under them. We plan it that way on purpose.
We explain. You decide.
This is education first, and a conversation on your terms. We are a licensed life-insurance producer; the legal and tax structuring is handled by the independent attorneys and accountants we coordinate. We do not give tax advice, we do not sell securities, and we do not push. When the numbers say you need nothing, we will tell you so.
For substantial estates
Fund the policy without taking your capital out of play.
When the policy is large, you do not have to write the full premium from cash. Using bank financing and your own assets as collateral, the plan can be funded while your capital stays invested and working. It is a specialized structure we engineer and coordinate.
Common questions
What families ask about the policy.
- Is a US life-insurance payout taxed for a non-US person?
- Generally no. A policy insuring your own life is not treated as a US-situated asset, and the death benefit is normally received free of US income tax. Structured with the right owner, it also stays outside your US taxable estate.
- How does life insurance actually solve the estate-tax problem?
- US estate tax is due in cash, generally within nine months of death. The death benefit delivers US dollars at exactly that moment, so the tax is paid from insurance proceeds instead of a forced sale of the apartment or the portfolio.
- Can a non-resident buy US life insurance?
- In most cases, yes. Carriers look for genuine US connections such as property, investments, or a business, along with medical and financial underwriting. By law the application, the medical exam, and delivery of the policy must take place on US soil, which we coordinate into a single planned visit.
- How much coverage would I need?
- As a starting point, coverage is sized to the estimated tax: roughly 40% of your US-situated assets above the $60,000 exemption. Your advisors then refine it for growth, currency, and existing liquidity. Our estimator produces that starting figure in about 90 seconds.
- Do I need a trust to own the policy?
- Not always. For some non-US persons, holding the policy personally is enough. A US trust or entity is often used when a beneficiary is a US person, when you may move to the US later, or when the carrier requires it, so the proceeds stay outside the taxable estate. This is decided with a cross-border attorney before the policy is issued.
Life insurance turns an illiquid tax bill into US dollars, on time, for the people you name.
Start with the number, then the plan.
See your estimated exposure, and therefore the coverage worth considering, in about 90 seconds. Then, if it is useful, ask one of our professionals to reach out.
