Cindy Brittain

Practice Areas

Cynthia “Cindy” Brittain has decades of experience advising high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth individuals and families on domestic and international income and estate tax planning strategies and philanthropic endeavors. Her practice offers significant cross-border expertise for families whose members are multinational and whose companies have a global footprint. She helps clients navigate complex issues relevant to international and domestic wealth and asset transfer, as well as assisting with pre-immigration planning and international corporate tax matters, leveraging her extensive experience with the cross-border regulatory laws that affect planning and compliance under the various voluntary disclosure regimes to help clients avoid negative consequences and minimize tax implications. Cindy is frequently sought out by international private clients and their advisory teams in urgent, high-stakes situations to help mitigate legal and reputational risk.

Professional Memberships

California State Bar

Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) Orange County: Board of Directors

Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) Los Angeles

Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) Full Member

Santa Barbara County Bar Association, Tax Committee: Co-Chair

California Lawyers Association – International Tax Committee

Beverly Hills Bar Association – International Tax Committee

Publications

"The Inadvertent Frenchman," published in the January 2022 edition of Santa Barbara Lawyer, the Official Publication of the Santa Barbara County Bar Association (Issue 592).

Career

Cindy previously served as Northern Trust’s Director of Inbound Wealth Advisory, where she acted as a national resource advising clients and internal teams on international regulatory compliance, and assisting both domestic and international clients with planning. She also worked within the international mergers and acquisitions group at a Big Four accounting firm.

Experience

Over the course of her distinguished career, Cindy has worked with clients in Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, London, Hong Kong, Mainland China, India, and the U.S. She takes a personal approach to advising large global families, working closely with each family member to obtain a comprehensive understanding of values and dynamics to ensure that unique personal and business goals are accounted for and achieved. Cindy also provides hands-on guidance for financial institutions and corporate trustees who work with international clients, advising on global enforcement initiatives relevant to companies, CPA firms, and law firms that handle international clients. Infrastructure for the U.K. Criminal Finances Act of 2017, trust registration obligations within European Union countries, and domestic planning taking into account Brussels IV are just some of the foreign rules that cross the Atlantic and impact planning and protocols here in the U.S., and Cindy is a frequent speaker on the application of these rules.

Awards