What is a Trust for?
"A trust is an umbrella to protect your family's wealth from financial attacks from creditors, ex-employees, clients, partners, litigation, court seizure, inheritance issues, etc".
A trust is an ethical arrangement that allows a third party, known as a trustee, to hold assets on behalf of a beneficiary or beneficiaries that you nominate. Trusts can be arranged in many ways and can specify exactly how and when your assets gets passed on to the beneficiaries, such as your partner(s) and children.
Since trusts usually avoid probate (court), your beneficiaries may gain access to your assets more quickly on death than they might through using a will. Additionally, if it is an irrevocable trust, it may not be considered part of the taxable estate, so fewer taxes may be due upon your death.
Trust Example
Client moves $500,000 of his money into a trust to be passed on to his partner/children on death for tax efficiency and avoid court seizure of his assets in the event of bankruptcy or legal wrangle and to ringfence his assets.
Why Set Up a Trust?
Avoids Court: The primary purpose of a trust is to avoid the expense and delay of the probate process, i.e. so that on death, your named partner(s) and beneficiaries receive what you earmark for them without going through years of court battles
Privacy: After your death, your will is likely to be probated. In this case, your will becomes a public document, along with the value of the assets that formed your estate. Further, certain people may be entitled by law to receive a copy of your will. A trust agreement, however, is a private document and can keeps information confidential. Some people replace their wills with a trust. This may be important if you have beneficiaries that you want to receive money, but keep it a secret
Avoids Compulsory Inheritance: in some countries, a will automatically gives your assets away to particular family members (many former French colonies do this)
Controls Distributions: you control who receives a distribution upn death; you control when and how these assets are delivered
Protects Your Legacy: a trust can help protect your estate from your heirs’ creditors or from beneficiaries who may not be adept at money managementTax Reduction or Avoidance: the right type of trust can avoid large inheritance / estate taxes on death
Protects Your Family from Themselves: by putting your assets into a trust, you can decide when and where beneficiaries can access the wealth in a trust. Often this means children not being able to access a trust until later in life when they have become more responsible
Educate Your Heirs: set up a university trust fund for your children or grandchildren
Charities: Set up a “foundation” to give to poor children and those less fortunate than yourself. This can be set up to give a lump sum on death as well as install regular payments
Types of Trust
There are many types of trust, so we won’t go into detail here as it requires lengthy discussions with clients. But, here are the main types…
Revocable Trust (faces tax on death, but you have control):
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Also known as a living trust, a revocable trust can help move your assets outside of probate (court), whilst allowing you to retain control of your assets during your (the grantor’s) lifetime. It is flexible and can be dissolved at any time should your circumstances or intentions change. A revocable trust typically becomes irrevocable upon the death of the grantor (you).
You can name yourself trustee (or co-trustee) and retain ownership and control over the trust, its terms and assets during your lifetime, but you will need to make provisions for a successor trustee to manage them in the event of your incapacity or death. Although a revocable trust may help avoid probate, it is usually still subject to inheritance or estate taxes. It also means that during your lifetime, it is treated like any other asset you own.
Irrevocable Trust (usually avoids tax on death, but control is relinquished)
An irrevocable trust typically transfers your assets out of your (the grantor’s) estate and potentially out of the reach of inheritance or estate taxes and probate (court), but cannot be altered by the grantor (you) after it has been executed. Therefore, once you establish the trust, you will lose control over the assets and you cannot change any terms or decide to dissolve the trust.
An irrevocable trust is generally preferred over a revocable trust if your primary aim is to reduce the amount subject to estate taxes by effectively removing the trust assets from your estate. Also, since the assets have been transferred to the trust, you are relieved of the tax liability on the income generated by the trust assets (although distributions will typically have income tax consequences).
It may also be protected in the event of a legal judgment against you.
Pension Trusts
Depending on your nationality, we can either set up new pension trusts where you funnel new money into a pension or we can transfer existing pension monies abroad for tax reduction, currency control, investment control and retirement planning.
We have solutions for British expats, Dutch, Irish, Americans, Australians, South Africans and many other expats.
Investment Trading Trusts
Trust Account Fees
Set Up Fee - 3,500 USD
Annual Fees - 2,000 USD (invoiced quarterly)
Tax on Offshore Trusts
- No tax on growth at source
- No tax on death at source
- No dividends tax at source
There is no tax at source on the offshore investment trusts we set up. Please see the table below for the taxation in your country of residence on dividends.
| Country | Tax on Dividends |
|---|---|
| Bangladesh | 10% |
| Barbados | 5% |
| Belgium | 5% & 10% |
| Botswana | 5% & 10% |
| Cabo Verde | 5% |
| China | 5% |
| Congo | 0% & 5% |
| Croatia | Exempt |
| Cyprus | Exempt |
| Egypt | 5% & 10% |
| France | 5% & 15% |
| Germany | 5% & 15% |
| Guernsey | Exempt |
| Italy | 5% & 15% |
| Jersey | Exempt |
| Kuwait | Exempt |
| Lesotho | 10% |
| Luxembourg | 5% & 10% |
| Madagascar | 5% & 10% |
| Malaysia | 5% & 15% |
| Malta | Exempt |
| Monaco | Exempt |
| Mozambique | 8%, 10% & 15% |
| Namibia | 5% & 10% |
| Nepal | 5%, 10% & 15% |
| Oman | Exempt |
| Pakistan | 10% |
| Rwanda | 10% |
| Senegal | Exempt |
| Seychelles | Exempt |
| Singapore | Exempt |
| South Africa | 5% & 10% |
| Sri Lanka | 10% & 15% |
| State of Qatar | Exempt |
| Swaziland | 7.50% |
| Sweden (New) | 0% & 15% |
| Thailand | 10% |
| Tunisia | Exempt |
| Uganda | 10% |
| United Arab Emirates | Exempt |
| Zimbabwe | 10% & 20 % |
| Zambia | 5% & 15% |
Please contact us for more information on trust planning
