Cross-border estate and offshore trust disputes

In today’s world, family wealth is increasingly global. Assets, businesses and beneficiaries often span multiple jurisdictions, and clients frequently live, work and invest across borders. This international reach creates opportunity, but also complexity, particularly when disputes arise over trusts, estates or succession planning.

At Hugh James, we advise trustees, beneficiaries, fiduciaries and high-net-worth families on complex, often multi-jurisdictional trust and estate disputes. Our Private Wealth Disputes team combines legal precision, strategic insight and sensitivity to family dynamics to help clients protect wealth, resolve conflict and prevent future disputes through robust governance.

Working across borders

We have close relationships with law firms across a wide range of jurisdictions, enabling us to provide a coordinated and strategic approach to cross-border disputes. Our recent cases have involved the following jurisdictions: Jersey, Guernsey, the Isle of Man, Ireland, France, Italy, Switzerland, Cyprus, Spain, Gibraltar, Dubai, India, the USA, Jamaica, Canada, Australia and Ethiopia.

Contact us

We offer a free, no-obligation initial consultation as well as flexible pricing options, tailored to your needs. Contact us for further information.

International disputes involving trusts, estates and family wealth

Cross-border disputes often involve:

offshore or foreign-law trusts
assets held in multiple jurisdictions
beneficiaries resident overseas
conflicting succession regimes
questions of domicile, forced heirship or applicable law

These disputes require careful coordination across jurisdictions and early strategic advice. For further insight, see when cross-border trust and estate disputes arise.

Who we act for

We advise:

trustees and professional fiduciaries
beneficiaries and high-net-worth families
protectors and family offices
executors and personal representatives
advisers involved in international estate planning

Our expertise in cross-border and offshore disputes

Dispute resolution

Breach of trust and fiduciary-duty claims
Applications to remove or replace trustees or protectors
Validity and governance challenges, including sham and mistake
Cross-border succession and estate disputes

International and conflict-of-laws issues

Domicile and residence disputes
Forced heirship regimes
Conflict-of-laws analysis
Competing or foreign grants

Asset recovery and protection

Tracing and recovery of misapplied trust assets
Coordinating overseas proceedings
Interim and protective relief

Governance and risk management

Trustee advisory and compliance support
Family governance frameworks
Constitutions, charters and dispute-prevention structures

Our approach

Strategic and proactive – Early, decisive steps to preserve assets and manage risk
Collaborative and coordinated – Working seamlessly with overseas lawyers, fiduciaries and advisers
Clear and commercial – Practical, business-focused advice
Preventive as well as reactive – Strengthening governance to reduce future disputes

Why clients choose Hugh James

Trusted leadership – Led by a team of partners ranked by Legal 500, Chambers & Partners and Spear’s 500 for contentious trusts and estates and with 30 years’ combined experience
Cross-border expertise – Experience across the Channel Islands, Middle East, Europe and Asia
Comprehensive perspective – Advice across the full family-wealth lifecycle
Preventive governance – Reducing future conflict and ensuring continuity

Our Private Wealth Disputes team explains key points to consider when dealing with cross-border estate and offshore trust disputes, including the challenges that can arise when assets, trusts or beneficiaries are based in different jurisdictions.

Roman Kubiak advances his clients’ cases with great humanity and efficacy.

Chambers & Partners

Roman is exceptional. He has an expansive mind and is very knowledgeable, but is really practical as well when wading through a problem or a dispute.

Chambers & Partners

Roman is very well recognised in this specialist area of work. He fights his client’s case but is also commercially aware and sensible, and a pleasure to deal with.

Chambers & Partners

Roman Kubiak is described by a client as “tremendously capable, he knows what he is doing. He’s a national figure.” Another source adds: “Roman is exceptionally knowledgeable, he is very pragmatic and very solution-oriented.”

Chambers & Partners

A natural and dynamic leader’, the ‘very impressive’ Roman Kubiak heads the firm’s Private Wealth Disputes team and is noted for his ‘deep knowledge of estates and trusts law’.

The Legal 500

Key contact

Danielle Cahill

Partner

Danielle Cahill is a Partner in the Private Wealth Disputes team in London, with a particular focus on developing Hugh James’ cross-border and offshore disputes practice. Her expertise lies in representing high-net-worth individuals in complex family disputes, as well as advising trustees, commercial and banking clients.

Speak to our specialists

If you are facing a trust or estate dispute or wish to strengthen your family’s governance and risk-management arrangements, our Private Wealth Disputes team can help.

Contact us