Offshore Trusts: Get Rid of Asset Protection Worries Once and for All

Ten simple ways you can use an offshore trust to get rid of any and all asset protection concerns

Many more people nowadays get themselves in a right pickle when it comes to acquiring assets in various countries, getting into complicated personal life arrangements and even mixing business with pleasure – oh heaven forbid!  And what all this really leads to is a situation where assets are scattered about, liabilities are wide open and a person’s financial and security situation are also open for abuse.

Does this potentially sound like you?  Have you perhaps got a second home abroad, do you have your own business or perhaps you’ve remarried and have children from a previous marriage?  Well, then you need to find a way to get rid of your asset protection worries once and for all and we may just have the perfect solution…an offshore trust…

Sounds so simple and yet so complex at the same time doesn’t it?

Well, in reality an offshore trust when used as an asset protection strategy or as part of an asset protection strategy can be beautiful in its simplicity…but before we get into discussing the aesthetics of inanimate and invisible objects, let’s take a closer look at the top ten ways an offshore trust can be used to get rid of asset protection worries once and for all!

1) Tax Planning

Did you know that a trust that has been carefully structured to take into account your every liability and potential exposure can potentially securely and legitimately protect you, your estate and your heirs from income, capital gains and estate or inheritance tax?

2) Avoiding Probate Hassle

Probate is a painful, public and long drawn out process in many countries in the world; if you want to ensure your heirs avoid probate hassle an offshore trust is the perfect solution because death has no impact on the property within an offshore trust.

3) Providing Confidentiality and Securing Personal Privacy

As stated, probate is a public process as is proving a will and if you want to ensure your assets are kept private upon your death and the personal privacy of you and your descendants is protected then chances are an offshore trust is the only answer because asset transfer involving a trust ensures estate tax is mitigated or negated and the trust’s assets remain confidential.

4) Avoiding Succession Issues

In certain European nations and within Islamic traditions forced heirship is common - if you want to go against these laws and traditions and yet are affected by them you may very well need an offshore trust structure in an appropriate jurisdiction.

5) Estate Planning

If you have relations, friends and personally important persons or causes dotted about the world and you’re considering creating a complex will structure that leaves a little bit here and a little bit there then the easiest way is often through the establishment of an offshore trust.

6) Protecting Vulnerable People

The very young, the elderly or the ill and infirm need special care and attention and to ensure that assets willed to them or the money set aside for their care is used appropriately, one must consider establishing an offshore trust in which specific details are laid out for the protection of the vulnerable people in question which cannot be interpreted but which must be carried out exactly according to your wishes.

7) Preservation of Familial Assets

A way in which accrued assets can go on to accumulate even more value is by leaving the original assets intact.  If you have a large family and are likely to need to divide assets up upon death this will fracture the potential for considerable capital appreciation from those assets.  Instead, if you place everything within an appropriate type of trust structure you can ensure all assets grow together and that appropriate family members receive an income from the accumulation of ongoing value and wealth of familial assets.

8) Preservation of Familial Business

The liquidation of a family business upon the death of key members of the business can be avoided by using a trust structure ensuring the familial business is preserved.

9) Gaining Flexibility

Discretionary trusts are really quite flexible asset protection solutions that can quickly be adapted, added to or amended as needs arise.

10) Purely Protecting Assets

And finally, if you have important assets in your life - from real estate to large sums of capital for example - by placing these assets within an offshore trust structure you remove direct ownership and resultant burden and liability from your own shoulders and as a result no one can attack your assets through you in the event of anything from a divorce to bankruptcy or unwarranted legal action.

As you can no doubt see, the uses of a carefully structured trust mechanism are incredibly broad and chances are there is a solution out there for you if you have any asset protection concerns.  If you would like to explore your options or gain insight into the alternative solutions appropriate to your circumstances please complete our offshore advice form and allow us to find the right people to help and guide you.