How to set up a trust in Samoa

Before you start: what you decide

Before you begin, decide five things with your lawyer. You do not need final answers on day one, only a direction on each point.

• Who benefits. The deed names or describes the beneficiaries. Write down each person and the country where they live.
• 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. Some structures hold shares through a company, so the trustee owns the shares and day-to-day dealings run through the company.
• Who holds which role. Beyond the trustee, the deed can name other roles, such as a protector. Your lawyer confirms which roles Samoan law allows.
• What you keep. Your lawyer explains how much say a settlor can keep without weakening the arrangement.

We turn your answers into a short brief for the lawyer and the trustee, which saves drafting rounds later.

The law behind the structure is set out, with its review status, on a separate page.

Step by step: from enquiry to signed deed

Nothing moves to signing until your lawyer has reviewed the deed, and nothing moves to funding until the trustee has accepted office and any local filing has been confirmed.

1. Enquiry. You describe the family, the assets and the aim.
2. Acceptance and checks. Identity and source-of-funds review, first ours, then the trustee’s.
3. Design. A diagram and a list of roles.
4. Drafting. The deed and your letter of wishes.
5. Signing. You and the trustee sign, and the trustee accepts office.
6. Filing check. Your lawyer confirms whether any filing follows signing.
7. Funding. Assets move to the trustee or a company the trust owns.

Basis: our service process, 2026-11-05.

The main trust statute carries a 2016 amendment and sits beside the common law (source: PacLII, Trusts Act 2014). Your lawyer confirms what it asks for at set-up.

We send a quote and the list of papers, so you can gather them before a start date.

A trust company in Samoa holds office as trustee, and we coordinate the papers and reporting around it. Our identity checks start next, and we confirm your start date in writing.

Documents the trustee asks for

The trustee does not accept office until it holds a complete file on you and on everyone with a role. We aim to collect it once, so you are not asked twice.

The settlor sends:

• A passport copy, certified as the trustee directs.
• Proof of address issued within the last few months.
• Your tax identification number and country of tax residence.
• A short history of how you built your wealth, with supporting papers.

For beneficiaries, protectors and company directors, the trustee asks for identity papers, an address and the role each person holds in the deed. For a child beneficiary, a birth certificate and the guardian’s details replace some of these.

For the assets, the trustee wants statements, share registers or sale contracts. They show what is being transferred and that it is yours to transfer.

Expect self-certification forms for tax information exchange for the trust and any company it owns. Your lawyer confirms which reporting duties apply in Samoa.

Identity and source-of-funds checks

These checks are usually the slowest part of the process, because each transfer needs evidence. The trustee wants to know its client before it accepts office.

We review each transfer you plan and ask for evidence of where the money came from. Payslips and tax returns cover savings. Sale agreements cover a business you sold, and accounts cover a company you still own.

Larger or more complex transfers draw more questions under our risk policy. If something cannot be evidenced, we say so early, before drafting starts.

The trustee then runs its own checks. Its questions sometimes overlap with ours, and we answer what we can from the file to keep repeats to a minimum.

Every enquiry goes through client acceptance, and we tell you early if we cannot take a case.

After the trust is set up

Once the deed is signed, the work turns to funding and running the trust. Assets move into the trustee’s name or into a company the trust owns, and each transfer is recorded.

From then on, the trustee holds meetings and passes resolutions for distributions, investments and changes to beneficiaries. You send us your requests, we prepare the papers, and the trustee decides under the deed.

The trustee keeps accounts and records current each year, and we send you a report with an asset statement.

Before you plan any of this, read what shapes the cost of running the structure. Then look through the short answers to common questions for points this guide does not cover.

When you are ready, start with a quote for Samoa and we reply with the next questions. To see how the whole structure fits together, return to the Samoa overview.