TRUST SERVICES, S.A
Fiduciary and Corporate Services to
Professional Firms, Institutions and Individuals since 1981

Offshore structures must provide for the unexpected and also, in some cases, for management of assets over generations.  We can provide the following services, the quality of which conforms with the objectives and standards promoted by The Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners in the United Kingdom.

• Will, trust and foundation services
• Asset planning and management
• Executor, Trustee, Protector, Adviser and Foundation Council nominations

You can obtain detailed commentaries on these fiduciary services by going to our Articles web page.  

A professional trustee must be capable of devising strategies for specific situations.   This ability is only achieved by experience which, in our case is considerable.   Our drafting skills have been honed over a period exceeding 35 years and include the drafting of trust legislation.

One of the most enduring means of protecting and conveying wealth since the middle ages has been the English trust which has been successfully exported to all common law as well as to some (less successfully) civil code jurisdictions.  Foundations, on the other hand, which are civil code instruments can be equally flexible and are gaining in popularity.

Inevitably, just as offshore financial centres have come under the spotlight because developed countries, in particular, are frustrated by secrecy laws and the loss of income tax revenues, so has the prime vehicle for managing assets, the offshore trust. Several countries (especially America) have placed significant restrictions and controls on setting up foreign trusts.  So far, the foundation still maintains a much lower profile which some clients find attractive.

Although the use of trusts and foundations in many previous scenarios is no longer possible, it does not mean that one of the key benefits (conveying wealth) cannot be achieved without offending domestic laws.

The average individual client does not want to lose ultimate control or ownership of his assets while he is alive but seeks to have his assets managed by professionals who will also act for him after his death, as they have for him during his lifetime, but with one or more new beneficiaries.  If the assets are held in  a company which we manage, the solution is our agency and combined fiduciary deed with tailor-made provisions to meet each client’s personal needs. During the client’s lifetime, Trust Services, S.A. serves as a custodian of the shares which means that the client retains complete control and we merely carry out instructions. The testamentary provisions of the fiduciary deed can be altered and the deed itself can be revoked. Only after the client dies does the role of Trust Services, S.A. change. In this structure the assets covered by the fiduciary deed can remain offshore and do not automatically flow back into a domestic estate after the client dies. When the fiduciary deed is executed it is not a public document and its contents, therefore, are confidential.  Only the client and ourselves need to be aware of its existence.  Most importantly, this structure means that probate is avoided.  There are also no annual fees involved.

This is only a broad outline and is intended to show how this uncomplicated mechanism gives you total control, combined with continuity and peace of mind. There will be a fee for taking your instructions and preparing the deed and any subsequent alterations will incur costs also.

Trust Services, S.A. can provide the necessary technical skills, as well as experience, and we will be happy to discuss this very important subject with you. Our advice is given in complete confidence.

For related materials please go to our Articles web page and review the summaries under the heading:  Trusts, Wills and Foundations.

MANAGEMENT OF YOUR INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS  BY LICENSED, QUALIFIED AND EXPERIENCED PRACTITIONERS