Cross-Border Planning: "What Could Possibly Go Wrong?..."

To investors, retirees, and executives planning cross-border activities, it may look oh, so simple. Occasionally, thinking out loud, one asks "What could possibly go wrong?" And I cannot help but recall this quotation:

"When anyone asks how I can best describe my experience in nearly 40 years at sea, I merely say, uneventful. Of course there have been winter gales, and storms and fog the like... but in all my experience, I have never been in any accident of any sort worth speaking about... I never saw a wreck and never have been wrecked, nor was I ever in any predicament that threatened to end in disaster of any sort. You see, I am not very good material for a story..."

-- Captain Edward J. Smith, RD, RNR (Commander, RMS Titanic)

Many thanks to Joe Grasmick, Canada-US immigration attorney, for this quotation.

Naturalization - The Other Five Year Rule

Just a reminder that there is another five year rule associated with naturalization that we often forget about: good moral character for the five years (three years for spouses of US citizens) immediately prior to filing the naturalization application. Many cross-border practitioners probably assume that high net worth Canadians always meet this requirement. Bad assumption. 

Arrests, charges, and criminal convictions of any kind and at any time in the client’s life must be noted on the naturalization application and may affect the good moral character assessment, whether or not the “bad conduct” occurred during the five year period before filing (sounds unfair, doesn’t it?). Almost any arrest or conviction merits a consultation with an immigration attorney who is highly experienced in naturalization matters.

Clients Need to Encourage Teamwork

Clients ought to encourage the professionals in their lives to "play well together in the sandbox": to meet, talk, and share client information.

"...Collaborating is just an excuse for running up higher hourly fees..."

How short-sighted!

When the lawyers, accountants, and insurance agents on both sides of the border don't talk with each other, working with blinders on, their cross-border clients can miss tremendous opportunities and face stiff penalties--in effect burning tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars on the barbie.

"I just deal with the immigration issues..."

I heard it again yesterday.

"It's not my area, it's not my problem..." 

Professional services are so compartmentalized! Professionals impose boundaries on their expertise and their services. They have to. They cannot be, know, and do everything. But do the boundaries make sense? Do the boundaries exist in the real world? 

If the boundaries don't reflect real world boundaries, then the professional's advice and efforts are going to reflect ARTIFICIAL distinctions. Is that a problem? Not necessarily, one might say, particularly when the client's troubles are few and within a narrow subject area.

HOW DOES THE PROFESSIONAL KNOW THE CLIENT'S TROUBLES ARE FEW AND NARROW IF THE PROFESSIONAL CONFINES HIS/HER ASSESSMENT TO A NARROW FIELD? 

The blind are leading the blind.

Many if not most client needs have a ripple effect: they give rise to other issues and they themselves are caused by other issues. Client needs are almost inherently multi-issue and multidisciplinary. Any professional who denies this is asking for trouble--trouble for himself/herself and for the client. 

Fine, have the guts to tell the client that. Broaden your knowledge base, enough so you can spot issues outside of your perceived area of expertise. And collaborate with other kinds of professionals to serve the client properly.