Glossary Of Trust Terminology

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Glossary Of Trust Terminology

Asset Protection Trust - an offshore trust whose main object is the protection of a settlor’s property from future attack by creditors.

Bare Trust - a simple form of trust.

Beneficiary - a person who will receive benefits from a trust.

Declaration of Trust - a simple form of Bare Trust usually relating to ownership of securities by a nominee.

Deed - a legal term for a document establishing a trust and setting out in detail how it will work.

Discretionary Trust - a situation where the trustees have discretion as to who will benefit and in what amounts and how the trust will be invested.

Domicile - the country where the trust is established.

Forced Heirship - laws which force division of an estate upon death to specified people, i.e. spouse, children.

Fraudulent Transfer - the transfer of assets in order to avoid their attachment by people who have legitimate claims over them.

Governing Law - the choice of law to govern the operations of a trust. Grantor USA terminology for settlor.

Guardian - a person with similar duties to the protector.

Inter Vivos - latin term—“between the living”.

Jurisdiction - country the laws of which will be governing a situation.

Memorandum of Wishes - a non-legally binding memorandum detailing the wishes and intentions of the settlor as to how a trust is to operate and who will benefit.

Nominee - a person who acts on behalf of another.

Protector - a person nominated to monitor trustees.

Redomiciliation - movement from one domicile to another.

Settlor - a person who settles property into a trust, thus establishing it.

STAR Trust - a trust established under the Special Trusts (Alternative Regime) legislation of the Cayman Islands. This permits a purpose trsut to be established where beneficiaries have no power of enforcement.

Trust - an obligation on a person to deal with property over which he has control for the benefit of beneficiaries.

Trustee - a person or company that owns the trust property and administers it according to the provisions of the trust deed.

Trustor - USA terminology for settlor.

Will Trust - a trust arising as a result of the provisions of a will.

VISTA Trust - a trust established under the Virgin Islands Special Trusts Act enabling a BVI company owned wholly by the trust to be solely the responsibility of its directors.

Basic Features Of Trusts

A trust is a relationship whereby a legal person (the trustee) holds property donated by a settlor (grantor in USA) for th...

Hong Kong Trusts

Hong Kong has a modern and competitive trust law on par with the standards of other major trust jurisdictions such as UK, ...

The Benefits Of Offshore Trusts

The use of an offshore trust can produce many substantial benefits. As always, proper professional advice needs to be tak...

Control and Protection Issues

The essence of a trust lies in the transfer of legal ownership of property from a settlor to the trustees. How can the set...

Investment Issues

The discretionary investment of trust assets is probably the single greatest area of difficulty for trustees. As noted, tr...

Professional Advisers

The advice of an experienced professional in the country of residence/citizenship of the settlor should always be sought b...

Zetland's Approach To Trust Administration

Zetland’s approach to trust administration may be summed up in just two words: devotion and objectivity. Devotion sinc...

Cost And Fees

Zetland charges trust fees on the following basis and does not generally charge fees as a percentage of assets under manag...

Glossary Of Trust Terminology

Asset Protection Trust - an offshore trust whose main object is the protection of a settlor’s property from future attack ...

GUIDES

Other Zetland Guides and Info Sheets available on request: Asset Protection; Belize Companies & Trusts; Belize International Foundations; Foundations; Hong Kong Trusts; Hong Kong Visas; Effective Offshore Operations; Seychelles; Mauritius; Singapore Residency; Trusts; Wills and Probate in Hong Kong; Offshore RMB and info sheet on Hong Kong company ongoing obligations.