ATTORNEYS

Duncan E. Osborne
 

Duncan E. Osborne

Direct

512.542.2010

Main

512.542.2000

Fax

512.542.2011

Duncan E. Osborne
deosborne@ohkdlaw.com

Mr. Osborne is a partner of Osborne, Helman, Knebel & Deleery, L.L.P.  His core practice is domestic and international estate planning with an emphasis on asset protection planning. A former adjunct professor of law at The University of Texas School of Law, Mr. Osborne devotes significant energy to lecturing and writing in his practice areas as well as helping clients with regard to all aspects of their estate planning.  He is a frequent author and lecturer on estate planning topics and has made presentations and published articles both domestically and internationally on the subjects of offshore trusts and asset protection planning.  One of the pioneers in the field of asset protection, Mr. Osborne conceived and was the original editor and a contributing author of the four-volume treatise, Asset Protection:  Domestic and International Law and Tactics, published by West Group in 1995 (a loose leaf service updated quarterly).  He was also the founding chair of the American Bar Association's Asset Protection Committee.  Mr. Osborne is retained by foreign governments and financial institutions to advise them on trust and tax issues.  He has also been called upon to serve as an expert witness on both sides of the docket in cases involving asset protection planning.

  • Board Certified, Estate Planning & Probate Law
  • Fellow, The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (Member, Board of Regents; Chair, International Estate Planning Committee; Member, Executive Committee)
  • Fellow, Texas Bar Foundation
  • Technical Editor, Steve Leimberg's Asset Protection Newsletter (2006 to date)
  • Listed in Best Lawyers in America
  • Listed in Who's Who
  • Listed as Texas Super Lawyer
  • Member, American Bar Association
  • Member, State Bar of Texas 
  • Member, The Offshore Institute
  • Member, The College of the State Bar of Texas
  • Member, International Tax Planning Association
  • Member, The International Bar Association
  • Member, Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners
  • Member and Founding Chair, Asset Protection Planning  Committee, American Bar Association (Section of Real Property, Probate and Trust Law)
  • Member, Foreign Activities of U. S. Taxpayers Committee, American Bar Association (Section of Taxation)
  • Former Member, Advisory Board, Asset Protection Journal
  • Director, Susan Vaughan Foundation, Houston, Texas
  • Director, Still Water Foundation, Austin, Texas
  • Director, Crail Foundation, Austin, Texas
  • Director, Aurora Foundation, Austin, Texas
  • Former Director, Touchstones Discussion Project, Annapolis, Maryland
  • Director, St. Stephen's Episcopal School Endowment Fund, Inc., Austin, Texas
  • University of Texas Law School (J.D., with honors, 1971) Order of the Coif;   Associate Editor, Texas Law Review
  • University of Texas (M.A., Latin American Studies, 1968)
  • Stanford University (B.A., English, 1966)
  • Contributing Author/Co-Editor, Asset Protection:  Domestic and International Law and Tactics (four volumes; updated quarterly) (West Group, 1995)
  • Co-Author/Presenter, "FATF and Patriot Act Requirements: What Should a Trust and Estates Lawyer Worry About?", The American College of Trust and Estate Planning Counsel (2008)
  • Author, "International Estate Planning for Individuals with U.S. Ties," International Bar Association Young Lawyers Committee Newsletter (Sept. 2007).
  • Co-Author, "Wealth Protection Planning Under the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005," 30 Tax Mgmt, Est., Gift & Tr J., 269 (2005)
  • Co-Author, "The Weese Litigation Solvency Defense Under the Cook Islands International Trusts Act," Steve Leimberg's Asset Protection Planning Newsletter #37
  • Co-Author, "Asset Protection Planning After the Bankruptcy Act," 68 Texas Bar Journal, 1006 (2005)
  • Co-Author/Presenter, "Lazarus is Dead Again - Asset Protection and Pre-Bankruptcy Planning," State Bar of Texas 21st Annual Advanced Consumer Bankruptcy Course:  Consumer Practice Under the Bankruptcy Reform Act (2005)
  • Co-Author/Presenter, "Offshore Asset Protection Trusts," Asset Protection in Arizona, State Bar of Arizona (2005)
  • Co-Author/Presenter, "Asset Protection Without Asset Protection Trusts," The American College of Trust and Estate Planning Counsel (2005)
  • Co-Author, "Wealth Protection Planning Under the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005," 30 Tax Mgmt, Est., Gift & Tr J., 269 (2005)
  • Co-Author, "Potential Effects of Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act on Asset Protection Planning," Steve Leimberg's Asset Protection Planning Newsletter #67
  • Co-Author, "Esteem Settlement Case," Steve Leimberg's Asset Protection Planning Newsletter #48
  • Co-Author/Presenter, "Possibilities and Limitations of Asset Protection," American Law Institute-American Bar Association Course of Study, Estate Planning in Depth with Emphasis on Drafting and Administration of Trusts, Madison, Wisconsin (2004)
  • Moderator, "Big Brother is Coming:  Transparency & Reporting in the Post 9/11 Era," International Academy of Estate and Trust Law, Prague, Czech Republic (2004)
  • Moderator, "Strategic Asset Protection Planning," State Bar of Texas 10th Annual Advanced Estate Planning Strategies Course, Santa Fe, New Mexico (2004)
  • Co-Author/Presenter, "Asset Protection:  Trust Planning," American Law Institute-American Bar Association Course of Study, Planning Techniques for Large Estates, New York, New York and San Francisco, California (2001 to date); Colorado Bar Association CLE Asset Protection (2003)
  • Co-Author/Presenter, "Asset Protection Practical Planning," 23rd Annual Southern California Tax & Estate Planning Forum, San Diego, California (2003)
  • Co-Author/Presenter, "Asset Protection:  Practical Strategies," 48th Annual Estate Planning Seminar - Estate Planning Council of Seattle and Washington State Bar Association, Seattle, Washington (2003)
  • Co-Author, "The Weese Litigation Solvency Defense Under the Cook Islands International Trusts Act," Steve Leimberg's Asset Protection Planning Commentary #37
  • Co-Author/Presenter, "Asset Protection Planning," New York Bar Association First Annual Trusts and Estate Law Institute, New York, New York (2003)
  • Co-Author/Presenter, "The Influence of Spanish and Mexican Laws on the Property and Probate Laws of Texas," The International Academy of Estate and Trust Law, Santiago, Chile (2003)
  • Co-Author, "Asset Protection:  Offshore and Onshore," American Bar Association Fall Tax Section/RPPT Section Meeting, Chicago, Illinois (2003)
  • Co-Author, "Converting an Asset Protection Trust into a Tax-Efficient Wealth Reserve," U.S. Taxation of International Operations (2003)
  • Co-Author,  “Asset Protection Planning:  The Estate Planner’s Duty,” Personal Financial Planning Monthly, Vol. 3, No. 3 (2003), p. 11
  • Co-Author/Presenter, “The Case For Asset Protection Planning,” The American College of Trust and Estate Planning Counsel (2003)
  • Co-Author/Presenter, Selection of Trust Situs,” Tulane Tax Institute (2002)
  • Co-Author/Presenter, “Asset Protection:  Domestic Trust Planning,” ALI-ABA Video Law Review Asset Protection Planning (2002)
  • Co-Author/Presenter, “Advanced Practical Asset Protection Planning Here, There, or Everywhere? A Case Study, ”American Bar Association Offshore Asset Protection Trusts Spring Meeting (2002)
  • Co-Author, “The Case for ‘Nest Egg’ Planning,” Asset Protection Journal, Vol. 3, No. 4 (2002), p. 23
  • Co-Author, "Domestic Venues for Asset Protection,” The International Academy of Estate and Trust Law Meeting, Berlin (2000)
  • Co-Author, “What ACTEC Fellows Should Know About Asset Protection,” ACTEC Notes, (2000)
  • Co-Author/Presenter, “Asset Protection and Jurisdiction Selection:  Clearing Up Your Situs Headaches,” 33rd Annual University of Miami Philip E. Heckerlig Institute on Estate Planning (1999)
  • Co-Author/Presenter, “Asset Protection,” Advanced ALI-ABA Course of Study for Counselors of Foreign and U.S. Client International Trust and Estate Planning (1999)
  • Co-Author, “Asset Protection Trusts:  Impact of Recent Case Law,” Journal of Asset Protection (1999)
  • Co-Author,  “Stateside Asset Protection Trusts,” Estate and Personal Finance Planning (1997)
  • Co-Author, “Will the Alaska Trusts Work?” Journal of Asset Protection  (1997)
  • Co-Author/Presenter, “The New Foreign Trust Internal Revenue Code Provisions,” Annual Notre Dame Tax and Estate Planning Institute (1997)
  • Co-Author/Presenter, “Understanding and Coping with the New U.S. Foreign Trust Legislation,” Transcontinental Trusts Conference 1997, London (1997)
  • Co-Author/Presenter, Chair of Panel at the Asset Protection Trust Symposium, International Academy of Estate and Trust Law meeting, Hong Kong (1996)
  • Co-Author, "The Preliminary Decisions in Offshore Trust Planning,” Journal of Asset Protection (1996)
  • Co-Author/Presenter, “Protection from Creditors’ Attacks in the Nineties,” American Bar Association 7th Annual Spring CLE and Committee Meeting (1996)
  • Co-Author/Presenter, “Freedom of Testation,” International Academy of Estate and Trust Law, Edinburgh (1994)
  • Co-Author/Presenter, “Strategic Uses of International Trusts,” IBC, London (1993)
  • Author/Presenter, "New Age Estate Planning: Offshore Trusts," 27th Annual University of Miami Phillip E. Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning (1993)

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