Legacy & wealth
Moving abroad is an estate planning event.
The life you're building in Portugal deserves the same protection as the one you're leaving. Who raises your children. Who signs for your parents. Where your money goes. I've spent my career on these questions, and I won't let you skip them.
What changes when you move
Six things that quietly stop working when you cross an ocean.
None of this is meant to scare you. It's meant to be done once, properly, so you can stop thinking about it and go enjoy your Tuesday.
Who raises your children
If something happens to you abroad and you haven't named a guardian, a court in a country your family doesn't know may decide. Name one, and a backup, in writing.
Powers of attorney
The document that lets someone act for you, or lets you act for a parent, may not be accepted by every bank or office overseas. Plan for both countries.
Your will
Portugal has forced-heirship rules, and EU law lets many foreigners choose the law of their nationality instead, but only if that choice is made properly. Your US will may not be enough on its own.
Trusts and US property
A living trust that works beautifully in California can be treated very differently by another country's tax system. Keep it, but have it looked at by someone who knows both sides.
Beneficiaries
Retirement accounts, life insurance and bank accounts pass by beneficiary form, not by your will. Check every one, and update contact details your family can actually reach.
Aging parents
Healthcare directives, HIPAA releases and authority over their accounts let you help from 5,000 miles away. Without them, you may be the daughter who can't get the doctor on the phone.
Education only. Rules on succession, trusts and tax differ by state and by country. For your own situation, speak to a qualified estate planning attorney in your US state and Portuguese counsel.
Free · 15 minutes
The Family Wealth Audit
Twenty-five yes or no questions across three pillars: Protect, Build, and Transfer. Be honest. Nobody's grading you. You'll see exactly where your plan is solid, and where the gaps are quietly costing you ground.
Protect. Build. Transfer.
The framework I teach at The Legacy Wealth Institute. Your answers stay in your browser unless you choose to email yourself the result.
Learn it properly
Estate planning, in plain English.
From The Legacy Wealth Institute, my education company. Written for families who were never handed a playbook, and who are done guessing.
Introduction to Estate Planning
Wills, trusts, powers of attorney, healthcare directives, beneficiaries and guardianship, explained the way I'd explain them to my own sister. Take it before you move, and you'll walk into any attorney's office knowing exactly what to ask.
The Legacy Wealth Institute is an education company and a DBA of Black Trust Fund Kids, LLC. It is not a law firm. Educational content only, not legal advice, no attorney-client relationship. Laws vary by state.
The Legacy Roadmap Session
A guided working session that turns your audit answers into a written roadmap of what to put in place, in what order, and what to take to an attorney. Education, not legal advice.
Learn more at The Legacy Wealth InstituteLegal representation is separate
Nothing sold on this site is legal advice or legal representation. If you need an estate plan drafted, you'll work with a licensed attorney under a separate engagement. We'll help you find the right one in your state, and Portuguese counsel for anything in Portugal.
Ask us for a referralThe bigger picture
Legacy is a practice, not a document.
Every November, Portugal visits its dead. Whole families at the cemetery, flowers, stories, lunch afterwards. It taught me that legacy isn't a lump sum. It's the decisions you make on purpose, and the conversations you have while everyone's still at the table.
~ from the Sunday letter
The Sunday letter
A long letter from Coimbra, every Sunday.
What the move actually costs, what I got wrong, the restaurant worth the train ride, and the paperwork that changed this month. Free, honest, and written by me.
~ Portia