How to set up a trust in Anguilla

Before you start: what you decide

Anguilla sets a few choices that other places do not, so settle these in your first call with your lawyer.

• Register or not. Registration of a trust is optional under the Trusts Act (source: Anguilla FSC: Trust sector page). Decide with the trustee whether you want it, because it changes the records and what third parties can see.
• Which trustee. The Commission describes local trust companies (source: Anguilla FSC: Trust sector page); one holds office, and we coordinate the papers around it.
• Which text applies. The Trusts Act 1994 is the governing law. A Trust (Amendment) Act 2023 and a Special Trust Act are listed (source: Anguilla FSC: Legislation), and your lawyer says which of them touch your deed.
• People and assets. Who is settlor, who the beneficiaries are, whether the deed creates a protector, and whether a holding company sits under the trust.
• Home position. Where you live and pay tax, since your advisers at home must agree first.

A trust is not the right tool for every goal. The first review may show that another route, or another place, suits you better.

Step by step: from enquiry to signed deed

Nothing is signed until your lawyer has reviewed the deed and the trustee has confirmed it will act. The steps below run in this order.

1. Enquiry. You tell us where you live, what you plan to hold and who the family members are. We reply with the next steps.
2. Acceptance. Our client acceptance review and the trustee’s own review of identity and source of funds.
3. Structure. You and your lawyer set the roles, any holding company and the powers you keep. This is also where you decide on registration.
4. Drafting. The deed and your letter of wishes are drafted under the Trusts Act; you and your tax adviser read each draft.
5. Signing. You sign before a notary where you live, and the trustee accepts office.
6. Registration, if chosen. The trustee prepares it before any assets move.
7. Funding. Assets go to the trustee or to a company the trust owns.

If you choose to register, fund the trust after registration. In every case, wait until the bank has cleared the source of funds.

Documents the trustee asks for

The trustee asks for papers on each person and on the money. This is the usual starting set, and the trust company may add to it once it sees the structure.

• A certified copy of each party’s passport or national identity card, with proof of address dated within three months.
• A short account of how you built your wealth, with supporting papers.
• Evidence of the source of the particular funds or assets you will transfer.
• Names, dates of birth and relationships of the beneficiaries.
• A list of the assets, with ownership papers for any shares or property.
• If you register, the papers the trustee says registration requires. Ask the trustee for that list before you begin.

Papers that are not in English may need a certified translation. Ask early what level of certification the trustee accepts.

Identity and source-of-funds checks

The trust company cannot take office until these checks are complete. They protect you too, since a trustee that skips them is not one to trust with assets.

A smaller centre draws extra questions from banks, so expect the trustee and the bank to ask the same things separately. Keep one set of certified papers ready for both.

Gaps slow everything: a round number with no evidence, a loan that cannot be traced, a bank letter that is missing. We keep a checklist with open items marked and chase each one from day one.

Sanctions and politically exposed person screening run at this stage. If a result needs a closer look, we tell you early and explain what more the trustee needs.

After the trust is set up

Once the trust holds assets, the trustee runs it under the deed. It keeps accounts, holds meetings and records decisions.

If you registered, ask the trustee which later changes, such as a new trustee or a new beneficiary, must be reported.

If you did not, the deed and the trustee’s records are the whole file, so insist they stay complete.

Review the structure each year, and again after a marriage, a birth, a move or the sale of a business. Keep your letter of wishes current; it guides the trustee but does not bind it.

For the rules behind these steps, read the law and features page. For what each step costs, see the breakdown of set-up and yearly charges. The overview of how a trust works in Anguilla covers the wider picture.