27 May Married to a Non-Citizen? Here’s How Your Legacy Could Disappear Overnight
You’ve spent decades building something substantial.
A business. A legacy. A life your kids can be proud of.
You’ve put in the work. You’ve made smart moves.
But let me ask you something no one else is asking…
What happens to everything you’ve built if you die tomorrow and your spouse isn’t a U.S. citizen?
Will your assets transfer smoothly?
Will your spouse be protected from unnecessary taxes?
Will your children avoid conflict, court battles, and chaos?
Or will everything you’ve built start unraveling the moment you’re gone, simply because the laws treat your family differently?
Most high-net-worth families don’t know how vulnerable they are. Until it’s too late.
This isn’t about paranoia. This is about planning.
Let me show you what can go wrong. And how to make sure it doesn’t.
The Government Doesn’t Care How Much You Love Your Spouse
Here’s the brutal truth:
If your spouse is not a U.S. citizen, the government does not allow the same tax protections as it does for U.S. citizen couples.
If you’re a U.S. citizen and leave your estate to your spouse who is also a U.S. citizen, you get something called the unlimited marital deduction. This means that you can transfer your entire estate to your spouse and no estate tax is due at your death, no matter how large your estate.
But if your spouse is not a U.S. citizen?
That deduction is gone.
That means your estate could be hit with up to 40% federal estate tax on everything above the exemption threshold, which, for 2025, is $13.99 million per person. And that number is scheduled to drop by half in 2026 unless Congress intervenes.
If you have a taxable estate and you die tomorrow, millions could be lost to taxes—simply because your spouse wasn’t born here.
What Chaos Looks Like
Picture this:
You die unexpectedly.
Your non-citizen spouse, still grieving, is suddenly facing a tax bill in the millions—cash that may not be readily available without liquidating your business, investment properties, or hard-won assets.
Worse, your children (especially from a prior marriage) start pushing for their inheritance. Attorneys are hired. Allegiances are tested. Courts get involved.
The story ends with legal fees, family division, and the unraveling of everything you intended to protect.
And who gets blamed for the mess?
You. The spouse. The parent. The one who “should have planned better.”
Harsh? Yes.
But I’ve seen it. Too many times.
There Is a Better Way (But Only If You Act Now)
If your spouse is not a U.S. citizen, there is no room for delay. Here’s what must be addressed—not someday, but now:
1. The Need for Specialized Trust Planning
This is the only way to preserve the marital deduction for non-citizen spouses. Assets are transferred into a special trust which allows estate taxes to be deferred until the surviving spouse passes and under tightly controlled conditions.
Without this planning? The IRS comes knocking immediately after your death.
2. Asset Location and Titling
Where your assets are held and how they are titled matters. Real estate abroad? Foreign business interests? Dual-citizen children? The wrong structure can create double taxation or cause assets to get stuck in cross-border probate.
3. Coordination with International Law
If your spouse retains citizenship in another country (Spain, for example), local inheritance laws, especially forced heirship regimes, may contradict your wishes or override your U.S.-based plan.
Proper planning coordinates U.S. and international legal systems so your intentions stick.
4. Trusts and Lifetime Gifting Strategies
Done right, advanced trust structures can move significant wealth outside of your taxable estate now, freeze asset values, and give you more control over distributions to heirs—while protecting everything from lawsuits, divorces, and financial predators.
Done wrong? They can backfire, trigger unnecessary taxes, or expose your estate to attack.
This Isn’t a Job for a Generalist
This isn’t about getting the cheapest attorney down the street.
This is about protecting your family from a system that is not designed to favor them.
It requires sophisticated, high-touch planning. The kind of planning that:
- Anticipates international tax exposure
- Navigates U.S. and foreign inheritance laws
- Ensures continuity for businesses, trusts, and wealth structures
- Defends your legacy from being taxed into oblivion
You’ve Built Too Much to Lose It This Way
At Garza Business & Estate Law, we work exclusively with a select number of high-net-worth families each year. Families like yours—who want to protect what they’ve built and ensure their legacy lasts, no matter what citizenship box their spouse checked.
We do not take on every family. We’re selective, intentional, and committed to delivering elite, customized legal strategies for those who are ready to act.
Apply to work with us here:
https://lgarzalaw.com/schedule-online/
Don’t leave your legacy to chance.
Don’t leave your spouse with a tax nightmare.
And don’t let your children inherit chaos.
Act now—because later is when the damage is done.
