Leigh–Alexandra Basha is a Partner in Holland & Knight’s Private Wealth Services Group where she devotes her practice to her clients' needs in the areas of domestic and international taxation, estate planning and administration, business law, and pre-marital agreements. Ms. Basha is the head of the firms' International Estate Planning Practice.

Ms. Basha's areas of focus include:

International Estate Planning: Qualified Domestic Trusts (QDOTs) and Marital Planning for Non U.S. Citizen Spouses; Pre-immigration Planning for Nonresident Aliens and Expatriation Planning; Planning for U.S. Persons Residing Abroad; Foreign Trusts and Foreign Business Entities; Coordination of Treaty Implications and Foreign Legal Issues; U.S. tax reporting and withholding requirements

Pre-Liquidity Event Planning: Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts (GRATS); Installment Sales to Intentionally Defective Grantor Trusts; Charitable Remainer Trusts; Valuation Discount Planning; Planning with Stock Options and Restricted Stock

Traditional Wealth Transfer Planning: Wills, Revocable Trusts, Power of Attorney and Advanced Medical Directives; Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts; Dynasty Trusts; Family Limited Partnerships and Limited Liability Companies, Qualified Personal rResidence Trusts; Philanthropic and Charitable Planning ; Private Foundations; Premarital Agreements; Asset Protection Planning

Ms. Basha is the author of several published articles and has spoken at and moderated several continuing legal education programs, nationally and internationally. In 2001, she served as a visiting professor at Ecole de Formation de Barreaux de la Cour d’Appel de Paris and L’Universite de Paris II (Assas).

She studied at Institut d’Etudes Politiques, Paris, France (1980) and Paris Institute on International and Comparative Law (1983). She also holds a Virginia real estate license.

PROFESSIONAL HONORS & AWARDS
Washington, D.C. Super Lawyer
Martindale-Hubbell AV Rated
Virginia Super Lawyer
Outstanding Performance by a Speaker, International Bar Association, London
Service of the Year Award Finalist, Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce, 1996
Best Column, Legal Lines Column, Area Realtor Magazine, 1987
Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel

MEMBERSHIPS
Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners Worldwide
American Bar Association, probate & Real Property Section, Chair- International Tax Planning Committee
International Bar Association, Vice-Chair- Individual Tax and Private Client Committee
Northern Virginia Estate Planning Council
International Academy of Estate and Trust Lawyers
International Business Exhange Council (IBEC) of the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce, Co-Chair
Committee of Individual Tax and Estate Planning, Wills, Trusts and Succession of the IBA, Secretary
French-American Chamber of Commerce, Director
Brazilian-American Cultural Institute, Director
Wills Estates and Trusts Section of the Fairfax Bar Association, Chairperson
International Practice Section of the Fairfax Bar Association, Chairperson; Program Chair

COURT ADMISSIONS
U.S. Supreme Court
U.S. Tax Court

SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
Transformation and Transparency; The Current State of the Offshore Trust, ABA Spring Symposium, April 2007
10 Deadly Sins and a Few Venial Ones When Planning for the International Client, Virgina State Bar, Advanced Estate Planning Seminar, April 2007
Civil and Common Law Planning for the Private Client, IBA International Wealth Transfer Practice Conference (London), March 2007
Top 10 Caveats in Dealing with the International Client: From Estate Planning and QDOTS to Reporting for the Client on the Move, DC Bar, February 2007
Top 10 Estate Planning Pitfalls, Financial Planning Association of the National Capital Area Symposium, January 2007
Asset Protection Planning: Just What the Doctor Ordered, Holy Cross Hospital Continuing Education Seminar, October 2006
Virginia Law Recent Developments in Estate Planning and Administration, D.C. Bar, June 2006
Recent Developments in International Tax, ABA RPPT Section- San Diego, May 2006
Foreign Investment in U.S. Real Property from a Franco-American Perspective, IBA- International Wealth Transfer Practice Conference- London, March 2005
Planning for Non-Citizens, 17th Annual Mid-Atlantic Retreat for the Financial Planning Association, October 2004
Equity Participation Arrangements: Knowing Your Options, IBA- International Wealth Transfer Practice Conference- London, October 2003
Estate Planning for Women, American Association of University Women, April 2003
Augmented Estate Tricks and Traps, VA State Bar, March 2003
International Business Succession Planning, IBA- International Wealth Transfer Practice Conference (London), March 2002
Recent Tax Law Changes Affecting Non-U.S. Citizens, Foreign Trusts and International Clients, Colorado State Bar Annual Conference, September 1998
Options for Real Estate in the Estate Planning Process, Including Family Limited Partnerships, VA State Bar, Dec. 1995
The Virginia Limited Partnership: Its Use in Estate Planning, National Business Institute, March 1995
Planning Opportunities with Living Trusts, National Business Institute, June 1994
Augmented Estate, Virginia Society of CPAs, 1992

PUBLISHED ARTICLES & BOOKS
"How to Avoid the Traps Clients & Their Advisors Trip on in the International Arena,"
"Investissements Immobiliers Etrangers aux Etats-Unis," Juris Classeur, 2004
"Stolen Art: What Estate Planners and Executors Need to Know- A Pandora's Box for the Unwary," Estate Planning Magazine, 1998
"1996 US Tax Changes Affecting International Trusts and Expatriation," VA State Bar Trust and Estate Newsletter, 1997
"The Family Limited Liability Company-A New Hybrid Vehicle for Estate Planning," VA State Bar Trusts & Estates Newsletter, 1994

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