Practices

Taxation
Tax Controversy and Tax Litigation
Asset Protection Trusts
Estate Planning and Administration
Family Businesses
Trusts and Estates Litigation
Private Wealth Services
Probate and Fiduciary Litigation
Private Wealth and International Capabilities
Trusts, Estates and Fiduciary Dispute Resolution

Education

Washington College of Law, American University, J.D.

Georgetown University, LL.M., Taxation

Georgetown University, A.B., Government

Bar Admissions

Virginia
Maryland
District of Columbia

Languages

French

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Leigh-Alexandra "Leigh" Basha

Partner
Northern Virginia
t: 703-720-8081

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 chairs the firm's International Private Client 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 Remainder 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 Residence 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. She currently chairs the Individual Tax and Private Client Committee of the IBA and is the immediate past Chair of the International Tax Planning Committee of the ABA.

In 2001, she served as a visiting professor at L'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

  • Citywealth Leaders List, 2009
  • Washington, D.C. Super Lawyers magazine, 2007-2009
  • Virginia Super Lawyers magazine, 2006-2009
  • Martindale-Hubbell AV Rated
  • 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

Memberships

  • International Bar Association, Chair of the Individual Tax and Private Client Committee
  • Committee of Individual Tax and Estate Planning, Wills, Trusts and Succession of the IBA, former Secretary
  • American Bar Association - Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Section, former Chair - International Tax Planning Committee
  • ABA/ACTEC Task Force on USA Patriot and Gatekeeper Regulation Committee (2009-2010)
  • American Bar Association Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section, Communications Committee (2009-2010)
  • STEP Worldwide, Secretary for Mid-Atlantic Branch
  • International Academy of Estate and Trust Lawyers, Acamedician
  • American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, Fellow
  • International Business Exchange Council (IBEC) of the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce, former Chair
  • International Practice Section of the Fairfax Bar Association, former Chairperson; former Program Chair
  • Wills Estates and Trusts Section of the Fairfax Bar Association, former Chairperson
  • Northern Virginia Estate Planning Council
  • French-American Chamber of Commerce, former Director
  • Brazilian-American Cultural Institute, former Director

Court Admissions

  • U.S. Supreme Court
  • U.S. Tax Court

Speaking Engagements

  • Speaker, "Potpourri of International Hot Topics," National Association of State Bar Tax Sections, Washington, D.C., October 30, 2009
  • Speaker, AICPA Trust, Estate and Gift Tax Technical Resource panel, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Meeting, October 26, 2009
  • Speaker, "Potpourri of International Hot Topics," Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, October 15, 2009
  • Chair, "Constraints on Testamentary Dispositions," IBA Annual Conference, Madrid, Spain, October 4-9, 2009
  • Foreign Bank Account Reports and More: Voluntary Disclosure. September 23 Deadline!, ABA Section of International Law Committee on International Taxation, August 20, 2009
  • Speaker, "Voluntary Disclosures & FBARs," ABA/AICPA Teleconference, August 20, 2009
  • Speaker, "Exit Tax & The Accidental American," The Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners, June 22, 2009
  • Speaker, "Foreign Investment in U.S. Real Property," STEP Chicago International Estate Planning Institute Conference, Chicago, IL, June 16, 2009
  • "FBARs," ABA/AICPA Teleconference, June 12, 2009
  • Chair, "The Second Home Abroad," International Bar Association IWTP, London, England, March 2-6, 2009
  • Speaker, "Foreign Investment in U.S. Real Property; Expatriation & Foreign Reporting," Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning, Orlando, Florida, January 12-16, 2009
  • Speaker, "Foreign Investment in U.S. Real Estate," Maryland Institute for Continuing Professional Education of Lawyers, Maryland, October 29, 2008
  • Chair, "Anti-Avoidance Structures (CFC's, PFIC's, etc..)," International Bar Association, Buenos Aires, Argentina, October 12-17, 2008
  • Speaker, "Grandma Died with a Cook Islands Trust: What Now?," American Bar Association Spring Symposium, May 1, 2008
  • Speaker, "International Estate Planning: Potential Traps and How to Avoid Them," Montgomery County Bar, April 2, 2008
  • Speaker, "International Estate Planning and Foreign Administration of Estates," D.C. Bar, March 20, 2008
  • Panel Chair, "Tax Fraud/ Compliance - Regularisation of Non-Compliant/ Unreported Structures," The International Bar Association/ American Bar Association International Wealth Transfer Practice Conference in London, England, March 4, 2008
  • Speaker, "How to Avoid the Traps Clients and Their Advisors Trip on in the International Arena," Washington Association of Money Managers, January 23, 2008
  • Panel Chair, "Transformation and Transparency: The Current State of Offshore Trusts," American Bar Association, January 15, 2008
  • Speaker, "Current Developments in International Tax and Private Client Planning," STEP, Washington, D.C., October 23, 2007
  • Panel Chair, "International Estate Planning for the Asian Client," International Bar Association Annual Conference, Singapore, October 18, 2007
  • Speaker, "How to Avoid the Traps Clients and Their Advisors Trip On in the International Arena," Northern Virginia Estate Planning Council, September 25, 2007
  • Organized Panel for ABA Conference, U.S. Canadian Cross Border Planning and Philanthropy, Vancouver, British Columbia, September 2007
  • Moderator, IBEC Legal Panel Gateway to India, 2007
  • Speaker, "International Estate Planning of the Married Couple (including QDOTs) Expatriation & Reporting," Massachussetts CLE, Boston, MA, 2007
  • Moderator, "Transformation and Transparency: The Current State of the Offshore Trust," ABA Symposium, Washington, D.C., April 26, 2007
  • Speaker, "10 Deadly Sins and a Few Venial Ones," Virginia State Bar, Advanced Planning Seminar, Homestead, Virginia, April 22, 2007
  • Chair, Moderator and Speaker, "Civil and Common Law Planning for the Common Law Family," IBA International Wealth Transfer Practice Conference, London, England, March 5-7, 2007
  • "Civil and Common Law Planning for the Private Client," IBA International Wealth Transfer Practice Conference, London, England, March 2007
  • Speaker, "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 13, 2007
  • Speaker, "Top 10 Estate Planning Pitfalls," Financial Planning Association of the National Capital Area Symposium, Washington, D.C., January 19, 2007
  • Speaker, "Asset Protection Planning: Just What the Doctor Ordered," Holy Cross Hospital Continuing Education Seminar, Maryland, October 12, 2006
  • Speaker, "2005-2006 Virginia Law Recent Developments in Estate Planning and Administration," D.C. Bar Update, June 15, 2006
  • Speaker, "Recent Development in International Tax Presented to the American Bar Association Real Property, Probate and Tax Trust Section," ABA San Diego, May 5, 2006
  • Speaker, "Foreign Investment in U.S. Real Property from a Franco-American Perspective," The International Bar Association/American Bar Association International Wealth Transfer Conference, London, England, March 2005
  • Speaker, "Estate Planning for Non-Citizens," The 17th Annual Mid-Atlantic Retreat for Financial Planners, Washington, D.C., October 2004
  • Speaker, "Equity Participation Arrangements: Knowing Your Options," IBA International Wealth Transfer Practice Conference, London, England, October 2003
  • Estate Planning for Women, American Association of University Women, April 2003
  • "Augmented Estate Tricks and Traps," Virginia State Bar, March 2003
  • "International Business Succession Planning," IBA International Wealth Transfer Practice Conference, London, England, March 2002
  • Recent Tax Law Changes Affecting Non-U.S. Citizens, Foreign Trusts and International Clients, Colorado State Bar Annual Conference, Colorado, September 1998
  • Speaker, "Options for Real Estate in the Estate Planning Process, Including Family Limited Partnerships," Virginia State Bar, December 1995
  • Speaker, "The Virginia Limited Partnership: Its Use in Estate Planning," National Business Institute, March 1995
  • Speaker, "Planning Opportunities with Living Trusts," National Business Institute, June 1994
  • Speaker, "Augmented Estate," Virginia Society of CPAs, 1992

Published Articles & Books