Offshore Trusts

What exactly is an offshore trust? It is very much like a traditional onshore trust, with the except that it has the benefit of being held at an offshore financial centre. In the same respect as a normal trust, offshore asset protection is a great method of protecting your assets. It is an arranged entered into by a person (or by a group) known as the ‘Trustee’ and a distinct person or group of people known as the ‘Settler’, by which provisions are made in a binding, legal form known as the ‘Deed of Trust’. Foreign ‘Overseas Trusts’ are formed in order to hold the title assets, funds and/or property and to manage these assets in accordance with the deed of trust. Subsequently, these offer offshore trust benefits and distributions to a person or a group of persons known as the ‘Beneficiaries’ of the trust fund. An offshore trust had the extra benefit of far larger offshore asset protection than the onshore kind.

The trustee and/or the offshore trust company entrusted with the management of the trust are bound by a fiduciary duty to uphold the agreement, and they commit to the requirements set out by the deeds of the trust.

Simply put, Offshore Trusts offer complete and absolute confidentiality. Assets and title to property, for example, are put into the trust and trustee to manage totally. This gives them total privacy as it is possible to find out the owner of the assets and the relevant benefit of this is the additional pro of absolute protection from liability. This is the process by which offshore asset protection can be set in stone and doubly secure.