Citywealth Forum 2025 speaker spotlight: Joshua Rubenstein
Partner & National Chair of Private Wealth at Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP, New York.
Keynote Summary – Citywealth Forum 2025
At the opening of the Citywealth Forum 2025, Joshua Rubenstein delivered a powerful and thought-provoking keynote that captured the essence of this year’s theme: navigating wealth through change, controversy, and complexity.
In a sweeping address filled with historical reflection, wit, and practical insights, Joshua underscored the growing interconnectedness of planning, administration, and litigation in the private wealth world.
Core Insights
- Change is Not New – But Its Pace Is
“Heraclitus said in 500 BC that the only constant is change. What’s new today is the frequency, breadth, and unpredictability of change – and the fact that it doesn’t abate.”
- Anticipating Controversy is Now Mandatory
Wealth professionals must assume that every plan could be contested, and act accordingly. Planning must now be built with a litigator’s foresight and an administrator’s realism. - Real-World Events Shape Wealth Strategy
From 9/11 to the rise of crypto and AI, from FATCA to global tax enforcement, Rubenstein noted that modern wealth management is inseparable from world events. - Greek Tragedy Meets Modern Finance
In his classical signature style, Rubenstein warned that failing to learn from others’ mistakes is a Greek tragedy in the making. “We’re here today to learn from others’ mistakes – that’s the smartest thing you can do.” - Integrated Thinking Yields Stronger Outcomes
- Planning needs awareness of administration and litigation.
- Administration requires an understanding of underlying structures and legal implications.
- Litigation benefits from knowledge of tax and structural nuances to turn disputes into financially smart settlements.
Panel 5 Report: Litigation Strategies in Estate Disputes – Rubenstein’s Perspective
The afternoon session, expertly moderated by Rubenstein, explored the evolving landscape of private client litigation with a sharp focus on global trends and practical challenges. He led the discussion with a clear-eyed analysis of key developments shaping estate disputes, guiding the audience through complex legal territory with a blend of authority and accessibility.
Opening the session, Rubenstein set the stage by outlining the breadth of topics to be covered: the surge in private client litigation, the erosion of attorney-client privilege, lifetime contests over capacity, late-in-life and predatory marriages, post-mortem disputes, and the intricacies of interrorem (no-contest) clauses. His framing underscored the increasingly litigious environment across jurisdictions, particularly in the United States, the UK, and offshore centers like Jersey.
Rising Tide of Private Client Litigation
Rubenstein highlighted the uniquely litigious nature of the U.S. legal system, attributing part of this to the American rule on legal fees, where each party typically bears their own costs. This contrasts with many other jurisdictions and encourages more frequent, sometimes borderline or frivolous claims, especially where contingency fee arrangements reduce financial risks for claimants and their lawyers.
He pointed out demographic and societal shifts exacerbating disputes: longer life expectancies mean beneficiaries wait decades before inheriting, increasing tensions; complex modern families, including blended and same-sex partnerships, complicate estate plans; and new legal phenomena such as adult adoption are employed strategically to alter inheritance outcomes. Rubenstein’s vivid example of adopting an adult partner to confer inheritance rights underscored how litigation strategies evolve in response to changing social norms.
Attorney-Client Privilege Under Pressure
Rubenstein’s discussion on attorney-client privilege revealed critical differences in how privilege operates and erodes under litigation pressure, especially in trust disputes. He described the ‘fiduciary exception’—a contentious legal principle in many U.S. states—that can compel trustees to disclose privileged communications to beneficiaries during contested accounting proceedings. Notably, New York’s recent repeal of this exception reflects the ongoing legal uncertainty.
He also cautioned about the inadvertent waiver of privilege through digital communications, emphasizing practical advice such as using private email accounts rather than employer systems when corresponding with legal counsel.
Lifetime Contests and Capacity Challenges
Rubenstein drew attention to the rise in lifetime contests over capacity, particularly in elder law contexts. He painted a realistic picture of family dynamics where adult children may initiate guardianship proceedings out of genuine concern or to prevent perceived financial exploitation. However, he warned about the risks of such interventions potentially provoking familial retaliation or escalating conflicts.
He praised the legal innovation in certain U.S. states, such as Alaska’s anti-mortem probate procedure, which allows disputes over testamentary capacity to be addressed while the testator is still alive—though noting its practical and jurisdictional limitations.
Late-in-Life Marriages and Capacity to Marry
Rubenstein contrasted the U.S. and U.K. approaches to capacity to marry, highlighting that marriage does not automatically revoke a will in the U.S., thereby limiting the impact of late-life marriages on existing testamentary dispositions. This distinction shapes litigation strategies, particularly in cases involving “predatory marriages” where vulnerable elderly persons may be targeted for financial gain.
Interrorem Clauses and Closing Remarks
In the session’s final minutes, Rubenstein touched on interrorem clauses, acknowledging their theoretical appeal as deterrents but cautioning that they rarely prevent litigation in practice due to the complex motivations of contesting parties.
Concluding the session, Rubenstein expressed gratitude to his fellow panelists and participants, reinforcing the importance of continued vigilance and innovation in navigating the intricate terrain of private client litigation.
Speaker Summary: Joshua Rubenstein
Panel 6: Family Law & Trusts – Using Trusts to Protect from Divorce and Creditors
Overview
At the 2025 legal symposium, a panel chaired by Joshua Rubenstein explored the increasingly complex relationship between trust law and family law, particularly in the context of high-net-worth divorce proceedings and creditor protection. Rubenstein, Global Chair of Private Wealth at Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP, guided the discussion with characteristic wit, legal acuity, and cross-jurisdictional insight, framing the session around the often “unhappy marriage” of two fields that do not always share the same objectives or philosophical grounding.
The conversation illuminated the legal, strategic, and ethical nuances of employing trusts as tools for asset protection in an era where global mobility and litigation risk are ever-present. Rubenstein’s moderation shaped the dialogue into a cohesive, engaging examination of the pitfalls and potential of trusts in matrimonial disputes.
Rubenstein’s Opening Remarks: Setting the Legal and Practical Stage
Rubenstein opened with a deft contextualization of the topic, noting the inherent tensions between family courts and trust structures. He described the session’s structure: an exploration of property regimes, choice of law, marital agreements, trusts’ resilience in divorce, and finally, the contrast between division of assets on divorce versus death—delivered with dry humour:
“100% of marriages end—either vertically or horizontally.”
Rubenstein framed the issue with an international lens, noting how differing regimes complicate the question of whether a settlor had the authority to create a trust in the first place. His U.S.-focused analysis provided a pragmatic overview of how American states approach community property, elective property regimes, and their interplay with trust creation, anchoring the discussion in real-world application.
The Core Legal Themes and Joshua’s Commentary
1. Property Regimes and Settlor Authority
In perhaps the most technically rich segment of the session, Rubenstein explained how community property regimes—which vary widely by jurisdiction—can determine whether a spouse had the authority to place assets in trust. He outlined three types of regimes (universal, after-acquired, and dissolution-based), using examples from France, Central America, and the U.S.
He illustrated the implications through a hypothetical involving a trust established in the Turks and Caicos by a husband living in New York with property brought from a community property jurisdiction—a masterclass in comparative legal reasoning.
“If it’s universal, I can tell you right now—he lacked the authority.”
2. Trusts Under Attack: When They Hold and When They Don’t
Rubenstein highlighted how difficult it is to penetrate a trust in U.S. divorce courts—unless de facto control can be established. He cited a case involving a discretionary trust where the husband was also a board member of the family trust company:
“The court said this smells to high heaven. They threw him in jail until he got control of trustee decisions.”
This example underscored a key theme: control is critical—both actual and perceived—when courts consider including trust assets in divorce settlements.
3. Prenups, Postnups, and Parental Pressure
Rubenstein examined the strategic value of prenuptial and postnuptial agreements, particularly in multi-jurisdictional family planning. In the U.S., he noted that New York and Florida offer contrasting approaches to enforceability and disclosure. He gave frank advice:
“In New York, disclose everything. Estimate high. You want it bulletproof.”
He also highlighted a social dimension: the influence of parental pressure in motivating postnuptial agreements:
“It’s 20 years later, no prenup, and the parents say: ‘Do a postnup, or you’re out of the estate plan.’ And you know what? Nine times out of ten, it works.”
4. Death vs. Divorce: Incentives and Strategy
Rubenstein closed with a sharp comparison of entitlements upon death versusdivorce in the U.S., explaining how elective shares (typically one-third) may provide less than what a spouse might obtain via divorce. He recounted a striking anecdote where a wife served divorce papers to her husband while he was in ICU—only for the roles to tragically reverse.
“Given the karma of life, he recovered—and she had a massive heart attack and died.”
Conclusion
Joshua Rubenstein’s role as moderator extended far beyond managing flow; he framed the legal and policy debates, injected comparative insight, and anchored technical discussions in practical client realities. His contributions lent the session clarity, cohesion, and levity—qualities indispensable when navigating the fraught intersection of love, law, and money.
In closing, Rubenstein reminded the audience that while trusts offer powerful protections, jurisdictional planning, legal disclosure, and trustee structure ultimately determine whether those protections withstand scrutiny. As families grow more global and wealth becomes more mobile, his guidance remains both prescient and essential.
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