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What is a Cyprus trust?
The short answer to what is a Cyprus trust: a trust, often set up under the International Trusts Law, where a trustee holds assets for beneficiaries under a written deed. Below are plain answers on roles, set-up, running costs and reporting.
Reviewed by a senior trust administrator, updated
Top questions
Jump to an answer below.
Key facts
- Trust structure
- International trust[1]
- Governing law
- International Trusts Law of 1992, as amended[1]
- Perpetuity period
- No fixed maximum duration under the Law as amended in 2012[1]
Numbers in brackets point to the Sources list at the end of this page.
Basics
A trust in Cyprus works like a trust elsewhere in the common-law world. Under the Law, a settlor transfers assets, a trustee holds them and beneficiaries benefit as the deed sets out.
What sets this place apart is the statute the trust sits under. The rules are in the International Trusts Law, and the law page sets out their sources.
What is a Cyprus trust?
It is a trust governed by the law of Cyprus, most often an international trust under the International Trusts Law. The settlor transfers assets, the trustee holds them, and the beneficiaries benefit under the deed. Your lawyer confirms which kind suits you.
What are the benefits of a trust in Cyprus?
People cite one trustee for assets in several countries, a legal system that draws on English common law, and written succession wishes. These are reasons to look, not results. Whether they apply to you depends on your home country and your aims.
What does a trustee do in Cyprus?
The trustee is the legal owner of the trust assets and administers them under the deed, keeping accounts and records, holding meetings and deciding distributions. It keeps the assets apart from its own property and reports to you as the deed requires.
How is this trust different from a will?
They work at different times. A will operates on death; a trust can start in your lifetime, with the trustee holding assets from the date of transfer. Because a trust does not replace a will, your lawyer helps decide which assets go where.
Who is involved in the structure?
Roles split four ways: the settlor creates the trust and transfers assets, the trustee holds them, beneficiaries may receive distributions, and a protector, if the deed provides one, can consent to key decisions. Drafting is done by a law firm, with your own lawyer reviewing.
Setting up
Set-up under the Law follows one order of steps for every client, and the papers set the pace. You pass the identity and source-of-funds checks, agree the structure with your lawyer, approve the deed and sign it.
Assets move only after the trustee has accepted office. Proof of where the money came from usually takes longest, and papers in Greek may need translating. The formation guide lists the papers in the order the trustee asks for them.
Who signs the deed, and in what order?
Both sign: the settlor signs the deed, and the trustee signs to accept office. We agree the order and any witnessing with your lawyer and trustee before drafting ends and put it in writing. Funding does not start until the trustee has accepted office.
In which language is the deed written?
The International Trusts Law is published on the CyLaw portal, and the language of a deed is agreed between the parties and the law firm that drafts it. Your lawyer reads the original text, and papers sent to a bank may need a certified translation.
Do I need to visit Cyprus to open a trust?
Whether anyone must attend in person is a point your lawyer confirms for your case, since signing and witnessing rules can vary between documents. Reviewing drafts may be possible online, and we confirm how identity papers are certified. Before drafting ends we settle the method with the trustee and your lawyer and give you the result in writing.
Can a holding company sit under the trust?
Yes, many structures use one. If a company sits under the trust, the trustee holds its shares, and day-to-day dealings run through the company. It adds formation and yearly charges, and your lawyer advises whether it suits your assets and where the company should be formed. The company's own law decides how it is formed, and the deed decides who controls it.
Running the trust
After funding, the trustee runs the trust under the deed and the default rules of the Law. We prepare the papers for each request, and the trustee takes the decision.
A trust stands up only if the deed is followed in practice and every decision is recorded. Treating trust money as personal money puts the structure at risk.
The yearly charges of a trust under the Law are explained line by line in the cost guide. We publish the set-up fee for a standard trust; annual administration, event-based work and third-party charges are quoted after we review your case.
Can I be a beneficiary of my own trust?
That depends on the deed, on the Law, and on how your home country treats it. Keeping benefits and control can change the legal and tax result, so your lawyer and tax adviser confirm it before you sign. Raise it before signing, not after funding.
Can I change the beneficiaries later?
Only if the deed gives someone that power, such as the settlor, a protector or the trustee. The deed also says how a change is made and recorded. We prepare the papers, and the trustee decides under the deed. The change is made in writing and kept with the trust records.
Does the trustee have to follow my letter of wishes?
No. The letter of wishes is a private note on how you hope discretion will be used, such as for schooling or a family firm. The trustee reads it without being bound, so update it when circumstances change and send the trustee each new version.
How often is the trust reviewed?
We suggest a review each year and whenever your family or assets change, such as a birth, a marriage, a move to a new country or the sale of a business. At the review the trustee confirms the assets it holds.
Reporting and tax
Where you live decides how you are taxed, so your tax adviser at home answers that part. Under the Law, the trustee keeps the records and makes the filings that apply to it.
A bank will usually ask at the start for self-certification forms covering the trust and any company it owns.
Does a Cyprus trust report under CRS?
Whether and how the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) for international exchange of account information applies to your trust, its trustee or a bank is a point your lawyer confirms for your case. Your adviser confirms what applies to you. Self-certification forms are collected at the outset to plan deadlines, and the answer may differ between the trustee, a bank and any company owned by the trust.
Does my residency change the reporting?
It can, depending on where you live. Your home country determines how you are treated as settlor or beneficiary and which filings apply. Give us your residence and tax country at the outset, and we send your adviser the actual drafts.
Who do I ask about my own tax on a trust?
That is for your own tax adviser at home. We offer no tax advice and no promised result. Cyprus counsel can describe the local trust rules, but not how your home country taxes you. We pass the adviser the same drafts we send you, and the adviser also explains your yearly filings at home.
Getting help
Write to us in plain language about what you intend to transfer and where you reside. We answer with what we handle ourselves and what your lawyer and tax adviser need to confirm.
Start with the overview if you want the whole picture before the details.
What should I send in a first message?
Tell us where you live and pay tax, what you expect to transfer, whether a company already holds the assets, and who should benefit. A brief note is enough; we answer with the papers to gather, and you may add travel limits or a preferred document language.
What should I tell my own lawyer first?
Come with a plain-language plan covering what you own, where it sits, who should benefit and where you live and pay tax. Your lawyer advises on it under home law, and we then split the preparation of the papers between us.
Sources
- CyLaw: International Trusts Law (1992), read 2026-11-05.