Caroline Esche Ashford

Caroline Esche Ashford is a dual-qualified attorney, licensed to practice law in Virginia, Maryland, Washington DC and (since 2009) in Germany. She is one of the very few fully trained and qualified estate and tax attorneys licensed to practice law in both countries.

A JD graduate of Columbia University Law School, Dr. Ashford advises on cross-border tax-optimized asset structuring, furthermore estate, income and gift tax issues, business succession, trust and estate administration, as well as contested trust and estate matters. She has significant experience drafting and administering complex estate plans for domestic and multinational UHNWIs and counseling fiduciaries in estate administration.

An IRS-registered tax preparer, she prepares federal estate tax returns (IRS Forms 706 and 706-NA) as well as federal gift tax returns (IRS Forms 709 and 709-NA).

Furthermore, Dr. Ashford advises European family-owned companies on expanding to the United States.

Early in her career, she was a member of the defense team that represented the Federal Republic of Germany in litigation under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act.

Dr. Ashford is a frequent speaker before bank wealth management departments, bar associations, embassies and various international communities both in the US and in Europe.

Over the years, she has held various leadership roles in the American Bar Association. 

Dr. Ashford is the founder of Ashford International Law PC, with offices in Washington DC, Los Angeles and Munich.