Setting up a trust in the Cayman Islands: steps and documents

Before you start: what you decide

Four choices come before any drafting, and each reshapes the deed and the papers the trustee requests.

• Whether you want an ordinary trust or a STAR trust, the special form set out on the law page.
• Who the beneficiaries are, by name or as a described class.
• Whether the trust should last for a fixed time or indefinitely, which matters for a deed signed after August 2024.
• Who would hold the enforcer or protector role, and who replaces that person.

Put these choices in front of your own lawyer and tax adviser at home first. They judge whether the structure fits your country, and that judgement precedes every signature.

A short written note works well, and every adviser should hold the same copy of it.

Step by step: from enquiry to signed deed

The same sequence applies each time, and the deed is reviewed by your lawyer before anyone signs 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 form of trust, the roles and any Cayman company below the trust.
4. Drafting. A Cayman 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.

For a STAR trust, the lawyer first checks that the deed states the regime applies and names an enforcer.

Signing at a distance, with certified copies, is agreed between counsel and the trustee. The Cayman Islands sit thirteen hours behind Hong Kong, so a call time that suits both sides is fixed early.

Documents the trustee asks for

The trustee will put its exact list in writing. These papers are the usual core:

• 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 person named as enforcer also supplies identity papers and a written acceptance of the role.

A company that goes into the trust adds its certificate of incorporation, constitutional papers and registers. Where a paper is not in English, a certified translation may be needed, and the trustee names who may certify copies.

Identity and source-of-funds checks

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

Questions on the origin of the money follow. If it came from a business sale, years of salary or an inheritance, each source needs its own paper.

Reply to follow-up questions completely the first time, because a partial reply restarts the clock. We run the checks once and share the results.

Expect the receiving bank to apply checks of its own, with a list that may differ from the trustee’s. Ask the bank for that list before any asset moves.

After the trust is set up

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

In a STAR trust the enforcer remains involved. Give the trustee the enforcer’s contact details, and say so if that person changes.

Plan a review every year and another when the family or the assets change. Your letter of wishes guides the trustee without binding it.

The yearly work is described on the cost page. The rules behind each step are in the legal features, and the Cayman Islands overview is one step back.

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