A well-structured estate is a protected estate.

From an overview: which assets you hold, in which jurisdictions, through what means, and what risks are associated with each. Only after this map can one speak of a structure — because a suitable structure starts from your real objectives and exposures, not from a standard model.

The next steps concern choosing the instruments (trust, foundation, holding, a combination), the right jurisdictions and the desired level of protection and control. The whole exercise is built around two objectives: protecting the estate from future risks and a compliant, transparent structure that lasts.

It means deciding in good time, in a structured way, how your estate is held and how it will be transferred — instead of leaving these matters unresolved, to default law and to heirs. It can include wills, gifts, the choice of the law applicable to succession, the structuring of assets and the tax planning of the transfer.

The purpose is twofold: that your wishes are respected and that the heirs are protected from conflicts, costly procedures and a heavier tax burden than necessary.

The trust, as an institution, does not exist in Romanian law — it is an instrument of Anglo-Saxon law, recognised, however, in numerous other jurisdictions. For a Romanian client with an international estate, this does not make it irrelevant, quite the opposite: the trust or foundation is set up in the right jurisdiction, not in Romania.

This is where my specialisation comes in: structuring, administering and defending international trusts and foundations, the company law applicable to holding structures and their taxation. I work on the foreign-law instrument where it exists and produces effects, in coordination, where appropriate, with professionals in the relevant jurisdiction. What I do not claim is to set up a trust 'in Romanian law', because Romanian law does not know the institution as such.

Yes, as long as it is lawful optimisation — the correct use of the rules, of double-taxation treaties and of national regimes so as not to pay more than the law requires. This is distinct from evasion, which involves concealing or falsifying reality.

Correctly done wealth planning rests on transparency and real substance — the very opposite of concealment. It is a mature and legitimate practice worldwide.

Yes, to a certain extent: the fiducia, regulated by the Civil Code. Through a fiducia, a person (the settlor) transfers rights or assets to a fiduciary, who administers them for a specified purpose, for the benefit of one or more beneficiaries. It is the closest local equivalent of the fiduciary mechanism, even if it is not identical to the Anglo-Saxon trust and has its own limitations — among them the restricted circle of persons who can act as fiduciary.

For a client with interests in several jurisdictions, the value lies precisely in mastering both worlds: the trust or foundation, where foreign law fully recognises them, and the fiducia, as a domestic instrument when appropriate. The analysis starts from your objective and chooses the instrument — and the jurisdiction — that serves it best, lawfully.

A well-built structure can offer protection from future risks — litigation, claims, instability — when it is created in good time, in good faith and properly funded. Assets held through a legitimate structure can, in many cases, be less exposed to future claims.

There is, however, a firm limit, which I state clearly to any client: protection works only for future and uncertain risks, not against debts or claims already existing. Structuring is not, and cannot be, a means of removing assets from current creditors or hiding assets — such transfers are null and attract liability. Built correctly and in time, a structure protects precisely because it is lawful.

My specialisation covers four directions of international trusts: structuring and administration (international trust management), the company law applicable to holding structures (company law and practice), the taxation of international trusts, and the defence of trusts in disputes (trust disputes).

These are directions I deepen through the four advanced STEP certificates in progress, on the route toward the Diploma in International Trust Management. Completion is scheduled for 2027, when I will also obtain full STEP membership — Trust and Estate Practitioner (TEP), the reference qualification in the field internationally.

STEP is the international professional body for specialists in estate and succession planning. Presence in its international directory means access to the field's global standards, training and collaborators — important because serious wealth planning almost always involves several jurisdictions.

I am currently the only professional from Romania present in this directory, as an Affiliate member and affiliated to the STEP Arabia branch. I am following the advanced certification route, which I anticipate completing in 2027 through obtaining full membership — TEP (Trust and Estate Practitioner).

For anyone with a significant estate, a family business, or an international element — property, accounts, children or activities in another country. The more complex or geographically dispersed the estate, the more value early planning brings and the more problems it prevents.

It is not necessary to be at the end of your career: most beneficiaries of good planning are those who start early, when they have the most options available.