How to set up a trust in the BVI

Before you start: what you decide

Four decisions come before any drafting, and each one changes the deed and the papers the trustee asks for.

• What the trust is for, such as passing on a family company in the BVI or planning for a family.
• Who the beneficiaries are, by name or as a described class.
• Which assets you expect to transfer, and whether the BVI company shares go in under a VISTA deed.
• Which roles you want, such as a protector, and who would hold them.

Show these answers to your own lawyer and tax adviser at home first. They tell you whether the structure suits your country before anyone signs.

Settle also who pays whom, since the BVI law firm, the trustee and the bank each send their own terms. Write the answers in a short note that every adviser works from.

Step by step: from enquiry to signed deed

The order below applies to each case, and nothing is signed until your lawyer has reviewed the deed.

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 roles, the assets and any BVI company below the trust.
4. Drafting. A BVI 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. Shares or other assets move to the trustee, or to a company the trust owns.

Whether the law firm or the trustee drafts the deed is agreed at the design step. For a VISTA trust, the lawyer first checks that the deed states the regime applies, since that wording is what makes it special.

The BVI sits twelve hours behind Hong Kong. Signing at a distance, with certified copies, is agreed between counsel and the trustee, and a call time that suits both sides is fixed early.

Documents the trustee asks for

Expect a list like the one below, which the trustee confirms in writing:

• 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 trust that owns a BVI company adds the company’s papers: the certificate of incorporation, the constitutional documents, the registers of members and directors and the beneficial ownership register.

Papers in another language may need a certified translation. A notary, a lawyer or an embassy can certify copies, and the trustee says which it accepts.

Date each scan you send, so you can show later when a document arrived.

Identity and source-of-funds checks

The checks come first because every later step waits on them. Each person is screened against sanctions and politically exposed person lists.

The trustee also asks where the money came from. For a founder who holds a BVI company, the file often includes accounts of the business, dividend records or the sale of an earlier company.

Answer follow-up questions in full the first time, since a partial answer restarts the clock. We run the checks once and share the results with the trustee.

The bank that receives the assets runs its own checks, and its list can differ from the trustee’s. Ask the bank for it before you move anything.

After the trust is set up

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

Companies below the trust have their own duties. From 1 January 2026 existing BVI entities must meet the beneficial ownership regulations (source: Mourant).

From 1 April 2026 the Registrar accepts access requests on the ground of legitimate interest (source: Mourant).

The Business Companies Act (s.96A) exempts companies whose shares a qualifying trustee holds from those beneficial ownership duties. Your lawyer confirms whether that applies to your company.

Plan a review each year, and another when the family or the business changes, such as a marriage, a birth or the sale of the company. The letter of wishes guides the trustee but does not bind it.

The cost page explains what the yearly work involves. For the rules behind these steps, read the legal features, or return to the BVI overview.

If you already hold a trust elsewhere, see how we handle administration of an existing trust, or ask for a quote.