Cook Islands Trusts

An offshore trust in the properly selected jurisdiction is the strongest asset protection vehicle worldwide. The Cook Islands Trust, as an example, has been shown to offer the strongest asset protection case law history. When a local court demands payment, the trust company in the Cook Islands, located outside your local court’s jurisdiction, is not obligated to comply with the court order. Thus, the licensed, bonded, insured 30+ year old trust company keeps your assets out of harm’s way. For client peace-of-mind we establish an offshore limited liability company (LLC) that is 100% owned by the trust. The client is the manager of the LLC. The accounts are held in the LLC in a very safe international bank. The client is the signatory on all bank accounts. When the “bad thing” happens and the assets could be subject to seizure by the courts, the trustee can step in as manager of the LLC and do what you have paid the trust company to do – protect your assets. Once the legal threat passes, the client is restored as manager of the LLC with the assets still intact.

Once the decision to form the trust is reached, the settlor must then select the type of trust he wishes to form, its duration, and make important decisions on defining details. These details include deciding whether the trust is revocable or not, whether the trust will be discretionary or not, and to specify the rights, duties, obligations, and expectations of the trustee. With respect to the revocable or irrevocable trusts, much as their names imply, they can either be revoked at any time with the terms for this outlined by the settlor, or they can have a pre-determined lifespan with no provisions for revocability, and only concluding when the terms of its creation as specified in the trust deed are met. By contrast, a discretionary trust can fall under either category, and is defined as a trust with much built-in flexibility with respect to how the trustee handles distributions to beneficiaries, and even provides, in some instances, the trustee with rights to appoint or add beneficiaries. This relinquishes a lot of authority over the offshore trust to a trustee, however, and highlights the importance of the careful selection of a competent, well-reputed trustee or trust holding company with good references, a worthy reputation, and the experience necessary to successfully and faithfully fulfil and honour the terms of the trust. In terms of benefits of the offshore trust, the placing of assets and title to property in the trust is where the lion’s share of the confidentiality and protection from liability benefits of the offshore trust are garnered. While the legal title passes to the trustee, which must fulfil obligations set out in the trust. The intent of the trust is to provide for the beneficiaries, of which the settlor may be, and often is, a listed participant. These beneficiaries, hold very strong rights with respect to the interests in the trust and most jurisdictions recognize that the intent is to provide the defined benefits for the these beneficiaries and rule favourably in their direction when questions as to the management of the trust arise.

Offshore trusts are often formed in low-taxation or low-regulation havens that have a proven reputation for the successful management and execution of trusts and trust funds. However, it is not absolutely necessary for a suitable location to be a tax haven or have lax regulations–many of the successful trust formation jurisdictions and countries simply offer renown, experienced trust companies coupled with superb confidentiality and with substantial asset shields. One common denominator is that these jurisdictions base their trust regulations and statutes on the English common law–this because the very idea of trust formation is an old English idea dating back to the time of the Crusades. Other European jurisdictions that offer successful trust administration, such as Luxembourg, Malta, Switzerland, etc., have adapted their statutes and regulations to conform with the proper trust administration models set forth by those based on the English common law.

It will be apparent that the Cook Islands constitutes an ideal legal environment for asset protection trusts whilst preserving commercial responsibilities to the creditors.