摘要：中国高净值家庭（High Net Worth Families，HNWFs）通常具有跨境要素，这些跨境要素主要体现在以下三个方面：一是财富跨境，即在境外持有现金、房地产等各类资产；二是身份跨境，即家庭成员（包括本人及子女）拥有境外身份；三是业务跨境，即所持企业
一、财富观察：中国高净值家庭大多具备跨境要素
中国高净值家庭（High Net Worth Families，HNWFs）通常具有跨境要素，这些跨境要素主要体现在以下三个方面：一是财富跨境，即在境外持有现金、房地产等各类资产；二是身份跨境，即家庭成员（包括本人及子女）拥有境外身份；三是业务跨境，即所持企业涉及境外投资或境外商业活动。
相较于无跨境要素的高净值家庭，跨境家庭在私人财富领域需要额外关注特殊的税务、外汇及婚姻继承问题，以有效防范政府处罚及资产分割等风险，并积极应对可能出现的争议事件。
二、实务聚焦：跨境家庭私人财富法律需求的新趋势
1. 税务监管趋严引发税务争议及合规需求
2025年，政府加大了对居民境外收入的征税力度，众多具有境外所得的中国跨境人士陆续接到税务机关通知，要求其对2022至2024年的境外收入情况进行自查和说明，并完成个人所得税的申报和补缴。
面对日益严格的税务监管，中国高净值人士（High Net Worth Individuals，HNWIs）开始委托律师核算税款、出具说明，并由律师代表其与税务机关协商沟通，完成税务申报并处理税务争议。为合理规划境外税务，部分客户聘请律师设立离岸信托架构，用于实现境外投资的亏损弥补与纳税递延，以应对境外收入无法亏损弥补、频繁交易导致多次纳税的风险。
税务合规申报以及离岸信托设立的法律服务成为私人财富法律领域的热门需求。
2. 外汇监管趋严引发跨境争议及规划需求
中国实施严格的外汇管理制度，个人和企业的资金出入境都需要符合相关外汇管理规定。同时，境内外金融机构也加大了对“地下钱庄”等非法换汇行为的反洗钱审查，导致不少跨境家庭的境内外账户被冻结。
面对日益严格的监管环境，中国高净值家庭开始聘请律师，协助其应对外汇管理部门的处罚及金融机构账户冻结等问题。
在外汇争议频发的背景下，跨境家庭也倾向于选择合法合规的资金跨境方案。相应地，移民财产转移批文、继承财产转移批文申请、中国境内企业对外直接投资（ODI）、红筹架构等相关法律服务需求持续上升。
3. 婚姻及继承案例频发，财富传承工具成为高净值客户“刚需”
近年来，国内企业家的婚姻及传承纠纷频发，越来越多的跨境家庭在“失败案例”的警示下，采用境内外双信托的架构，并以遗嘱、保险、赠与协议等多样化工具作为辅助，开展系统化的婚姻及继承规划。
其中，将境内、外企业分别置入境内、外股权家族信托或将从“优选方案”成为“刚需方案”。 将外籍家族人员设定为受益人并聘请专业律师设计符合境外税务规则的外籍受益人信托也将随之成为法税需求的持续增长点。
4. 老龄化时代来临引发养老及监护规划的法律需求
老龄化高净值人士的私人财富关注点开始从财富传承逐步向个人养老规划延伸。意定监护与遗赠抚养协议结合信托工具，辅以社区养老和居家养老等综合规划方案，已然成为高净值人士的重点需求和法律与养老服务相融合的典型领域。
三、重点关注：境内外信托或将成为私人财富争议的“重灾区”
随着私人财富规划意识的提升，越来越多的中国高净值家庭学习境外经验，设立境内及离岸家族信托传承家庭资产。
然而，在实践中，不少客户仍采用标准化模板设立信托，未聘请律师进行系统的法律和税务设计，亦不知晓信托使用的逻辑和方法。由此存在两大潜在风险：一是信托使用不当；二是委托人去世后争议频发。
一方面，高净值人士在设立信托时通常没有能力全面审核复杂的信托法律文件，对信托机制与条款的情况也并不了解，同时也未获取专门的信托使用说明文件。这使得本应产生财富管理效果的信托工具，成为套在财富上的复杂外壳，无法被正确地理解与应用。实践中甚至出现因错误使用信托而导致信托功能失效的案例。
另一方面，委托人去世后，子女对信托的实际运作缺乏了解、手中也没有指导其参与信托的指引文件，在信托运行过程中，极易引发受益人与信托公司的争议。比如，当信托公司按照委托人意愿进行逐年分配（而非一次性分配）时，子女可能对信托公司限制分配速度提出质疑，从而与信托公司产生争议。此外，部分委托人在世时掌控核心信托权利，但未在信托文件中对其离世后信托权利的归属进行继任设置，导致其身故后，家族成员间围绕信托内部权利的归属发生冲突。
为了预防上述问题，高净值人士可以聘请专业律师整理汇总、制作信托使用说明，帮助委托人参考法律文件准确理解并运用信托工具；设计信托条款、拟定权利继任机制，确保权利的顺利交接；开展家庭信托教育，增强家族成员对信托机制的认知，并通过律师起草专门的受益人知情函件，在委托人去世后传达信托结构并告知受益人信托的使用方式及委托人意愿等。
随着中国高净值人士境内外信托设立数量的增多、信托存续时间的增长，越来越多的信托争议或将爆发，信托设立法律服务及信托争议解决工作将成为中国私人财富领域的重点需求。
2025 China Private Wealth Legal Overview: Wealth Disputes, Preventive Solutions, and the Emerging Needs for Cross-Border High-Net-Worth Families
I.Observation: Cross-Border Characteristics Prevail Among Chinese High-Net-Worth Families
Chinese High-Net-Worth Families (HNWFs) typically exhibit cross-border characteristics in the following three aspects:
A. Cross-border wealth: Holding various overseas assets such as cash and real estate;
B. Cross-border identity: Family members holding foreign citizenship or residency;
C. Cross-border business: Family-controlled enterprises engaging in outbound investment or international commercial operations.
Due to China’s foreign exchange (forex) controls and the limited scope of tax incentives for overseas investment income, cross-border high-net-worth (HNW) families face significantly more complex legal challenges than their domestic counterparts. Consequently, they must navigate cross-border taxation, forex compliance, and family law risks. Proactive planning is essential to mitigate regulatory penalties, minimize exposure to contentious asset division, and preempt potential disputes.
II. Practical Focus: Emerging Legal Demands Among Cross-Border Families
1. Stricter Tax Enforcement Efforts Drives Disputes and Compliance Services
In 2025, China intensified enforcement of overseas income taxation for residents. Numerous individuals with foreign-sourced earnings have received official notifications from tax authorities mandating self-review and disclosure of undeclared income earned between 2022 and 2024, requiring completion of tax filings and remittance of outstanding liabilities
In response, a growing number of HNW individuals are engaging lawyers to assess tax exposure, prepare explanatory statements, and represent them in negotiations with tax authorities to fulfill tax filing obligations and resolve tax disputes.
Some clients seek legal support to establish offshore trusts that provide tax deferral and loss offsetting mechanisms for foreign investments, mitigating the risks of non-offset of losses on foreign-sourced income and frequent tax liabilities from repeated transactions.
Legal services pertaining to cross-border tax complianceand offshore trust structuring have emerged as one of theprimary growth sectors within the private wealth legal services market.
2. Heightened Foreign Exchange Scrutiny Triggers Cross-Border Disputes and CompliancePlanning Demand
China maintains a stringent foreign exchange regime, requiring both individuals and enterprises to comply with rules for inbound and outbound fund transfers. Simultaneously, domestic and international financial institutions have escalated anti-money laundering (AML) scrutiny, specifically targeting illicit currency exchanges via underground banks. This has led to the freezing of domestic and overseas accounts held by many cross-border families.
Chinese HNW families are engaging legal counsel to deal with penalties imposed by the authorities and resolve account freezes implemented by financial institutions.
Against the backdrop of frequent foreign exchange disputes, many cross-border families are increasingly opting for legally compliant cross-border fund transfer approaches. Therefore, demand surges for legal services encompassing:
A. The application of Emigration asset transfer approvals;
B. The application of Cross-border remittance approvals for inherited assets;
C. Overseas Direct Investment (ODI) structuring; and
D. Red-chip restructuring frameworks.
3. With the frequent occurrence of marriage and inheritance cases, inheritance tools have become a "must-have" for high-net-worth clients.
Recent high-profile inheritance and marriage cases involving domestic entrepreneurs have prompted many cross-border families，driven by cautionary tales of failed cases, to adopt more systematic planning tools. Common approaches include dual trust structures (onshore and offshore), supplemented by wills, insurance policies, gift agreements, and other customized legal arrangements.
Notably, placing domestic and offshore business entities into corresponding onshore and offshore family trusts is evolving from a "preferred strategy" to a "must-have". There is also growing demand for legal expertise to structure trusts for beneficiaries residing abroad in a manner compliant with foreign tax regulations.
4. The advent of an aging society has triggered legal demands for elderly care and guardianship planning.
As high-net-worth individuals enter their senior years, their focus in private wealth legal services is gradually shifting from wealth inheritance to personal elderly care planning. The integration of Guardianship Agreement by Conduct, Legacy Support Agreements, and trust instruments, supplemented by comprehensive planning solutions such as community-based care and home care, has already become a key demand of HNW individuals and a typical field where legal services and elderly care services converge.
III. Key Focus: Onshore and Offshore Trusts May Become a "Severe Disaster Zone" for Private Wealth Disputes
As awareness of private wealth planning increases, more Chinese HNW families are implementing domestic and offshore family trusts as strategic vehicles to preserve wealth and transition assets across generations.
However, in practice, many clients still rely on standardized templates to set up trusts, without engaging legal counsel for proper legal and tax structuring, and remain unfamiliar with the logic and application of trust mechanisms.
This gives rise to two major risks:
A. improper use of the trust; and
B. heightened risk of disputes arising after the settlor's death.
On one hand, many HNWIs lack the ability to thoroughly review complex trust legal documents when establishing trusts, and they are generally unfamiliar with the trust mechanisms and terms. At the same time, they usually do not receive dedicated explanatory documents on how to use the trust. This causes trusts, which are supposed to serve as effective wealth management tools, to become complicated shells wrapped around the wealth that cannot be properly understood or applied. In practice, there have even been cases where trusts have become ineffective due to improper use.
On the other hand, upon the settlor's demise, beneficiaries frequently exhibit deficient administrative literacy regarding the trust's operations and lack procedural manuals (drafted by licensed estate lawyers) to navigate trust governance.
This deficiency frequently triggers disputes between beneficiaries and the trustee. For instance, when the trustee executes gradual distributions (e.g., annual payouts) per the settlor's instructions—rather than a lump-sum transfer—beneficiaries may challenge the pacing of disbursements as unduly restrictive, escalating conflicts with the trustee. Furthermore, if the settlor retained control over key trust rights (e.g., investment discretion) during their lifetime but omitted succession mechanisms for these rights in the trust instrument, familial contention over posthumous control of trust governance becomes inevitable.
To prevent such problems, HNWIs should engage lawyers to compile and prepare detailed trust user manuals to help settlors understand and use trust structures correctly. Lawyers can also design specific trust terms, draft succession mechanisms, and conduct family trust education to enhance family members' awareness of trust mechanisms. Beneficiary information letters can also be drafted in advance to ensure that, upon the settlor's death, family members are informed of the trust's purpose, structure, and the settlor's intent.
With the increasing establishment of both onshore and offshore family trusts by Chinese HNWIs and the growing longevity of these trusts, trust-related disputes are poised to rise.
Legal services focused on trust formation, ongoing administration, and dispute resolution will emerge as indispensable service pillars in China's private wealth legal sector.
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来源：大成律动
