A Cook Islands Trust is the strongest form of asset protection worldwide.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.
Our experience has shown that the properly structured Cook Islands trust has protected client assets from every legal challenge.An offshore trust is very much like a traditional trust in that it comprises a relationship or arrangement among “Trustee(s),” “Settlor(s),” and “Beneficiaries.” Provisions are made in a binding, written legal document known as the “Trust Deed.” This legal tool can hold title to assets and property, manage said assets in accordance with the trust deed, in order to provide a series of benefits and distributions to a person or group of persons designated the beneficiaries.
The trustee and/or the trust company charged with the management of the trust are bound by a fiduciary duty to uphold the agreement. By signing the document they agree to the rules and requirements set out by the trust deed. A trust is unlike a corporation or foundation. This type of trust is a written agreement for the trustee to provide for the beneficiaries and to protect assets from predators.
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.