K. Eli Akhavan, JD, LLM, is a partner at the New York City-based law firm of Grant Herrmann Schwartz & Klinger LLP.  Eli specializes in domestic and international tax, estate and asset protection planning for high net-worth clients.  He advises domestic and international individuals and families with respect to tax and estate planning for their US assets and beneficiaries and incorporates dynasty trust planning for his clients. Eli also advises on a broad range of international estate planning matters, including foreign trusts, pre-immigration and expatriation planning, and on structuring investments in US real estate and US financial assets. Eli has considerable knowledge of the reporting requirements applicable with respect to foreign financial accounts and assets and with respect to FATCA and its global equivalent, the Common Reporting Standards (CRS), as well as the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA). Eli's practice also includes advising clients on the formation of private trust companies for purposes of wealth management and privacy.

With respect to creditor protection, Eli counsels US and non-US individuals and families on implementing foreign and domestic asset protection structures, including domestic and foreign asset protection trusts in jurisdictions such as the Cook Islands, Nevis, Delaware, South Dakota, Nevada, and Wyoming. Eli also integrates innovative domestic and international private placement life insurance planning into estate and asset protection plans for his high net-worth clients.  Eli advises on the individual and corporate tax benefits of relocating to Puerto Rico under Puerto Rico Act 60.  Additionally, Eli advises US clients who obtain alternative residencies and citizenships in Europe, the Caribbean, and other jurisdictions as part of their safe-haven planning and investment migration.

In addition to his professional responsibilities, Eli is a thought leader in the field of estate planning.  He serves as an adjunct professor of law at St. John's University Law School teaching International Taxation and is a recognized authority on tax and estate planning matters having been quoted by the Wall Street Journal, Fox Business and Bloomberg News. Eli lectures around the world on asset protection and cross-border planning matters. Eli has written numerous articles that appear in legal publications in the US and abroad. Eli is the Co-Chair of the International Tax Planning Committee of the American Bar Association, and is an active member of the following organizations:

• Academician, International Academy of Estate and Trust Lawyers
• Private Client Global Elite
• New York City Estate Planning Council (Executive Board Member)
• International Bar Association (Private Client Committee, Taxation Committee)
• STEP (Society of Trusts and Estates Practitioners)
• Investment Migration Council
• New York State Bar Association, Estate Planning Committee, International Estate Planning Committee
• Fellow, American Bar Foundation, Fellow