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What is a Cook Islands trust?
What is a Cook Islands trust? It is a trust registered in the islands under the International Trusts Act 1984, typically set up by someone who lives abroad, with a trustee, usually a trustee company, holding the assets for the beneficiaries the deed names or describes. Read the answers below, then ask us for a quote.
Reviewed by a senior trust administrator, updated
Top questions
Jump to an answer below.
Key facts
- Trust structure
- Registered; non-resident beneficiaries; listed company as trustee or power holder[1]
- Governing law
- International Trusts Act 1984 (No. 14), as later amended[1]
- Reserved settlor powers
- 1989 Act section 13C is headed retention of control and benefits[2]
- Registry search
- Registrar may confirm name, date, number, office and administering trustee on request[3]
- Reporting to authorities
- 2016 Amendment Act brought in the Common Reporting Standard[4]
Numbers in brackets point to the Sources list at the end of this page.
Basics
A trust in the islands works like a trust anywhere in the common law world. A settlor transfers assets, a trustee holds them, and beneficiaries may benefit under the deed.
What sets the island version apart is the statute it sits under and the conditions it attaches. As enacted, the 1984 Act defined an international trust by registration, by the type of company acting as trustee or power holder and by the residence of the beneficiaries.
People often describe these trusts as protective. That label refers to rules the Act contains, not to a result. The rules and their sources are set out on the law page.
Is it safe to hold assets in a Cook Islands trust?
Safety depends on the trustee, the deed and how the trust is used. Protection against a particular claim turns on timing, control and the courts at home, which only your lawyer can judge. We make no promise of an outcome. Ask your lawyer to review the trustee, the deed and your timing before any assets move.
Where can I check on a Cook Islands trust?
The Financial Supervisory Commission runs the registry. According to its Registry page, the Registrar may confirm on request an entity's name, registration date and number, registered office and administering trustee. Beneficiary details stay with the trustee and are not on that list. Start with the Registry page to see how to ask.
Who are the settlor, trustee and beneficiaries?
The settlor creates the trust and transfers assets. The trustee, usually a Cook Islands trustee company, holds and manages them under the deed. Beneficiaries are the people or class who may receive distributions. A protector, where one exists, oversees key trustee decisions. The deed sets out each role, and your lawyer advises who should hold it.
Can the settlor also be a beneficiary?
A deed can be drafted that way; section 13C (1989) is headed retention of control and benefits, and your lawyer confirms how it applies to your deed. Keeping too much can lead a court at home to treat the assets as still yours. Your lawyer reviews that balance before you sign.
Can a Cook Islands trust protect assets in a divorce?
We cannot say. A divorce court applies its local law and may look closely at when assets moved and who controls them. Only a lawyer who knows your facts and your home courts can advise on this. Bring the dates of any planned transfers and any existing claims to that first meeting.
Can an existing trust move to the Cook Islands?
Sometimes. If the deed allows the trustee to be replaced and the governing law to change, an island trustee company may be appointed. A lawyer checks whether your deed permits it, and we coordinate the deeds of appointment, registration and new checks. Mention an existing deed in your enquiry; do not send a copy until we ask for it.
Setting up
Set-up follows the same steps for every client, and documents decide the pace. You pass identity and source-of-funds checks, design the structure with your lawyer, approve the deed and sign.
The trustee registers the trust before assets move. The slowest part is usually evidence of where the money came from, so gather it early.
You can gather the papers the checks need before you ask. The formation guide lists the papers the trustee asks for, step by step.
Do I need to visit the Cook Islands?
That depends on what the trustee, the bank and your lawyer require. Some ask for certified copies made a particular way, and some for meetings in person. We ask each before you arrange anything, so you do not plan needless travel. Tell us early if travel is difficult for you.
Can I use my own lawyer?
Yes, we ask you to. Your lawyer at home confirms the structure is suitable and lawful where you live, and reviews the deed before you sign. A Cook Islands law firm drafts it under island law, and we coordinate between them. Tell us who your lawyer is in your first message.
What happens if you cannot take my case?
We tell you as early as we can, usually after the first identity and source-of-funds review. We explain the reason where the law allows. Every client goes through our client acceptance policy, and that review comes first so you do not pay for drafting on a case we cannot accept.
Running the trust
Once the trust holds assets, the trustee runs it under the deed: it holds meetings, keeps accounts and passes resolutions. We prepare the papers for each request before the trustee decides.
The structure stays sound when the deed is followed in practice, with real decisions recorded properly. A trustee that simply signs whatever the settlor sends is a warning sign, and so is a settlor who treats trust money as their own.
Running a trust has yearly charges, and over its life they can add up to more than the set-up. The breakdown of what you pay for explains each item.
We publish the set-up fee for a standard trust or foundation; annual administration, event-based work and third-party charges are quoted after we review your case.
Who decides on distributions?
The trustee decides, within the deed and guided by your letter of wishes. Requests come to us and we then prepare the papers; the trustee passes a resolution if it agrees. Where a protector holds a consent right, the trustee obtains that consent before the distribution is paid, and the decision is recorded in the trust's files.
Can I change beneficiaries later?
Yes, if the deed gives someone the power to add or remove beneficiaries. That power often sits with the trustee, sometimes with a protector's consent. A written deed or resolution makes the change, and anyone added may need identity papers. Your lawyer checks who holds that power in your deed.
Can the trust own a company?
Yes, a limited liability company or another company can sit below the trust. The trustee owns the shares, and the company holds accounts, investments or property. That adds formation, agent and accounting work, so it changes the cost. Your lawyer advises whether a company suits the assets you plan to transfer.
Reporting and tax
Tax follows the people involved, so your home country decides how you are taxed. The island side handles registration and records. Any reporting under the Common Reporting Standard that applies to the trustee or a bank is a point your lawyer confirms for your case.
Expect a bank to ask for self-certification forms for the trust and any company it owns at the start. Your own tax adviser tells you what to file at home.
The trustee also keeps accounts for the trust and for any company it owns. You could ask for a yearly report and a statement of assets, and for interim reports when a decision is due.
Does the trust report my account to my home country?
It may. A 2016 amendment to the Income Tax Act brought the Common Reporting Standard into island law; financial institutions report account details that the island tax office can exchange with a partner country where a settlor or beneficiary lives. Whether the duty falls on the trustee or on a bank is a question for your lawyer. A bank usually asks for self-certification forms.
Do I still pay tax at home?
Your home country decides how it taxes you as settlor or beneficiary. Your own tax adviser tells you what to file. We give the adviser the draft deed and the asset list, so the advice rests on real documents. Ask the adviser to confirm their view in writing before you sign.
Getting help
Ask us in plain words what you plan to transfer and where you live. The reply sets out what we can do and what we need next.
A good first message covers four things: where you live and pay tax, what you expect to transfer, whether a company already holds those assets, and who you want to benefit.
You do not need documents at this stage. If you already have a lawyer, tell us who it is, and we send them the same drafts we send you.
For the full picture of how the service is arranged and who acts as trustee, read the overview of this jurisdiction.
How do I contact you about a Cook Islands trust?
Use the enquiry button on any page and tell us what you plan to transfer and where you live. We reply with a quote and the list of papers the checks need. Please do not send documents yet. A short message is enough.
How do I start an enquiry for a Cook Islands trust?
Send us a short message with where you live, what the trust would hold and who it is for. We reply with the questions that matter, then move to identity and source-of-wealth checks, the design of the structure with your lawyer, drafting and signing.
Sources
- Act No. 14 of 1984 (FSC copy), read 2026-11-05.
- International Trusts Amendment Act 1989 (No. 23), FSC copy, read 2026-11-05.
- Financial Supervisory Commission, Registry, read 2026-11-05.
- Ministry of Finance and Economic Management, Legislation and Reporting: Income Tax (Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information and Other Matters) Amendment Act 2016, read 2026-11-05.