Belize trust formation: steps and documents

Before you start: what you decide

Five questions need an answer in outline before a Belize trust is opened. The wording is settled at the drafting stage.

• Who benefits. The deed names the beneficiaries or describes them as a class, such as your children and their children.
• What goes in. Cash, listed securities, shares in a private company or property held through a company each need different paperwork.
• Whether a holding company sits under the trust. The trustee then holds shares, and day-to-day dealings run through the company.
• Who holds which role. Beyond the trustee and the trust agent, the deed can create a protector and say who may advise on investments.
• What you keep. Your lawyer explains how much control a settlor can keep without weakening the arrangement.

Jot the answers down in plain words. From them we draft a brief for the lawyer and the trustee, which saves rounds of drafting.

For the rules behind each feature, see the law page and its sources.

Step by step: from enquiry to signed deed

The deed stays unsigned until your lawyer has reviewed it, and assets stay put until the trustee has accepted office.

This order is how we run the service, not a sequence fixed by statute. Your lawyer confirms any step that the Act itself prescribes.

1. Enquiry. You tell us where you live, what you plan to transfer and who should benefit.
2. Client acceptance and identity checks. The checks come first because every later step waits on them. You get acceptance or an early no.
3. Structure design. You, your lawyer and we agree a diagram and a list of roles.
4. Drafting. A law firm in Belize drafts the deed, and you review it with your lawyer.
5. Signing. You and the trustee sign the deed, and the trustee confirms in writing that it has accepted office.
6. Entry in the register. For an international trust, the trust goes into the Register of International Trusts, which the public cannot search (ss.65A, 65C).
7. Funding. Assets move to the trustee or to a company the trust owns.

An international trust must have a trust agent resident in Belize, appointed by the trustee (s.65E(1), which your lawyer checks). We line up the local partner for that role before the deed is signed.

Documents the trustee asks for

Nearly every case needs the same core papers. If you collect them before the trustee asks, the usual cause of delay disappears.

• A valid passport for each settlor, beneficiary and other controller of the trust.
• Proof of address, such as a recent utility bill or bank statement.
• A short account of where your wealth came from, with supporting papers.
• A description of the assets you plan to transfer, with recent statements.
• Details of each beneficiary, and of the protector if the deed creates one.
• Company records, if a company will sit under the trust.

The trustee may ask for certified copies, and papers not in English may need translation. Your lawyer can tell you which forms are accepted.

You receive a single checklist, and one set of copies then serves the lawyer, the trustee and the bank.

Identity and source-of-funds checks

On top of our checks, the trustee and the trust agent each run client checks of their own, and each must be satisfied before it acts.

Two terms matter here. Source of funds is the origin of the money going into the trust today. Source of wealth is the history of how you built your overall position.

The evidence is practical: sale contracts, payslips, tax returns, dividend statements or company accounts. The trustee reads them to confirm that the assets are lawful.

Presenting a clear timeline of how you earned or inherited the assets answers most questions before anyone asks them.

A check may end in a refusal. We say so early if we cannot take a case, and the trustee can decline on its own grounds.

Each year the trustee may ask for fresh papers. Keep originals safe and report any change of address or circumstances.

After the trust is set up

With assets in the trust, the trustee administers it under the deed: it keeps the accounts, passes resolutions and records each decision.

You, we and the trustee meet at fixed points, not every week. A review once a year works well, with another whenever the family or the assets change.

The review is the moment to update your letter of wishes. If the trust agent changes, your lawyer confirms whether the register entry must be updated, and the trustee handles that with us.

Your tax follows you as a person, not just the trust. Your home country decides what you report, so your tax adviser should read the draft deed before you sign.

What the yearly work involves is set out in the cost guide, and the overview shows who does what. When ready, request a quote for Belize.