How to set up a trust in the Bahamas

Before you start: what you decide

Settle four points before anyone drafts, because each changes the deed and the paperwork the trustee requests.

• Whether you want a trust or a foundation, since the Bahamas offers both.
• Who the beneficiaries are, by name or as a described class.
• Whether you want to keep reserved powers as settlor, which Bahamian law allows.
• Who would hold other roles, such as a protector, and who replaces them.

Take these answers to your own lawyer and tax adviser at home before anything else. Whether the structure fits your country is their call, and it comes ahead of any signature.

Put the answers in one short note and send each adviser the identical copy.

Step by step: from enquiry to signed deed

The sequence below holds for every case, and the deed stays unsigned until your lawyer has reviewed it.

1. Enquiry. You describe your plan. We reply with what we need and a view on whether we can take the case.
2. Identity checks. The trustee and the bank each run checks. We collect the papers once and share them under a data agreement.
3. Structure design. You and your lawyer settle the trust or foundation, the roles and any company below it.
4. Drafting. A Bahamian law firm drafts the deed, and we prepare your letter of wishes alongside it.
5. Signing. The parties sign, and the trustee confirms in writing that it accepts office.
6. Funding. Assets move to the trustee, or to a company the trust owns.

Timing matters more for a deed meant to resist creditor claims. Our overview cites a two-year limitation under the Fraudulent Dispositions Act 1991, and your lawyer explains what it means for your dates.

Signing at a distance, with certified copies, is agreed between counsel and the trustee. The Bahamas follow Eastern time with daylight saving, so a call time that suits both sides is fixed early.

Documents the trustee asks for

Expect a written list from the trustee, which usually covers these papers:

• A passport or national ID for each settlor, beneficiary and protector.
• Proof of address dated within the last three months.
• Evidence of the source of funds and the source of wealth.
• A schedule of the assets to be transferred.

A company entering the trust brings its constitutional papers and registers. Because the registered agent holds the company’s ownership data, that agent often has a list of its own.

Where a paper is not in English, a certified translation may be required, and the trustee names who may certify copies.

Identity and source-of-funds checks

Every later step waits on these checks, so they run first. Each person is screened against sanctions and politically exposed person lists.

Next the trustee asks how the money was earned. A business sale, years of salary or an inheritance each calls for its own supporting paper.

Give full answers to follow-up questions straight away, because a partial reply sends the review back to the start. We run the checks once and share the results.

A settlor who is a US person may be asked for additional papers. Say so in your first message, since the receiving bank will ask for its own list too.

After the trust is set up

With the deed signed and the assets moved, the trustee keeps the accounts and records and acts on distributions under the deed.

A company below the trust keeps its ownership records with a registered agent, and your lawyer confirms the duties for each one. The overview sets out the reporting rules with sources.

Schedule a review every year and another whenever the family or the assets change. Your letter of wishes steers the trustee without binding it.

What the yearly work involves is covered on the cost page. The rules behind each step are in the legal features, and the Bahamas overview is one click away.

Already hold a trust elsewhere? See how we handle administration of an existing trust, or ask for a quote.