Your South Dakota dynasty trust cost depends mainly on the structure, not a fixed tariff: companies and accounts under the trust, the drafting and the trustee's yearly work. We publish the set-up fee for a standard trust in South Dakota on this page; annual administration, event-based work and third-party charges are quoted after we review your case.
The set-up fee for a South Dakota (USA) trust is shown under the key facts. The other groups of cost depend on the structure and are quoted after we review your case.
Set-up
Structure design and onboarding checks
Trust deed drafting by the law firm
Trustee acceptance and account opening
Ongoing
Annual trustee fee
Accounting, minutes and records
Reporting to authorities
Third party
Bank and custodian charges
Tax and legal advice in other countries
Registry or stamp duty where it applies
Key facts
Perpetuity period
SDCL 43-5-8: the common-law rule against perpetuities is not in force[2]
Asset protection rule
SDCL 55-16-10: creditor claims are time-limited; clear and convincing proof[3]
Trustee requirement
SDCL 55-3-41: qualified trustee is a state resident, trust company or bank[1]
Numbers in brackets point to the Sources list at the end of this page.
Set-up fee
Standard trust
USD 14,000
Trust set-up in South Dakota (USA): the fee is fixed for the standard scope listed below.
Includes
Client onboarding, KYC and due diligence
Structure design
Trust deed drafted through a partner law firm
Acceptance of trusteeship by a local partner trustee, coordinated by One Pacific Trust
Filing of any registration the law requires
Excludes
Government fees, initial and annual (passed through at cost)
Stamp duty
Holding or underlying companies
Bank account opening
Tax advice in other countries
Annual trustee, administration and event fees (quoted separately)
VAT or GST where applicable
This fee includes the local partner trustee's acceptance fee as agreed with One Pacific Trust.
Set-up fees shown are One Pacific Trust fees in US dollars for the standard scope described, before government, registry, bank and other third-party charges, which are passed through at cost or billed to you directly.
Annual administration, event-based work and anything outside the standard scope are quoted after we review your case.
A published fee is not an offer and is not tax or legal advice; the terms that apply are those set out in writing when you engage us.
Set-up costs: what they cover
Illustration, not a real client.
Set-up is everything that happens up to the day the trust is signed and funded. For a South Dakota dynasty trust it falls into three stretches: before drafting, the drafting itself, and the day assets move in.
Revocable and irrevocable designs are priced separately. A dynasty trust usually runs under an irrevocable instrument, so ask for a quote on that basis and not on a generic trust.
Beyond the published set-up fee, figures in a quote come from the trustee’s written terms and your lawyer, and public-sector charges are set by the authorities.
Costs in each stretch look like this:
Before drafting: identity checks, source-of-funds review and structure design with your lawyer.
Drafting: the instrument, your letter of wishes and any holding company papers.
Signing day: the trustee’s acceptance of office and the first transfers into the trust.
Ask for the stretches as separate blocks. If they arrive as one number, you cannot tell which block moved when your plans changed.
After funding, the cost shifts from one-off work to a yearly rhythm. Think of it by stage: the first year, the settled years and the years when something changes.
The first year is the heaviest, because accounts open, records start and the trustee learns the assets. For a qualified disposition the trustee must be a qualified person (SDCL 55-3-41), and that role is billed each year.
In the settled years the trustee still meets, signs resolutions and prepares accounts, but the workload steadies. The line should be flat and predictable.
Years of change bring extra work: a birth, a sale of a company, a move abroad. Ask what the terms say about work outside the routine.
Yearly lines usually include:
The trustee’s fee for acting and for recording its decisions.
Accounts for the trust and any company it owns.
Reports that the trustee or a bank must file; your adviser confirms them.
Scheduled reviews with you.
Our coordination fee is shown on its own line, separate from the trustee’s fee, so each charge has a named payee.
Third-party costs
Not every charge is ours or the trustee’s. Some go to other people, and they tend to bunch up at particular stages.
Your lawyer and tax adviser. Home-country advice is billed apart from advice on the South Dakota side. Most of it falls before signing.
Government charges. Set by the authorities; the written terms list the ones that apply.
Bank charges. Falling due when accounts open and then each year.
Valuations and certified copies. Needed on signing day for private shares, property or papers from abroad.
Translations. Needed whenever papers are not in English.
Seen against the legal and trustee work, these lines are small, yet they can stall the signing day if nobody planned for them.
Ask your lawyer for a stage-by-stage list early. The plain answers give brief replies on who pays for what.
Keep the dated list; you will want to match it against the final invoices.
Tax reporting your adviser expects adds a yearly line, which the tax and reporting page outlines.
What changes the total
The same trust can cost very little in one year and far more in another. Three things decide where a South Dakota quote lands: the time horizon, the number of moving parts and the legal complexity.
Time horizon: a dynasty trust has no common-law rule against perpetuities (SDCL 43-5-8), so it may run for generations. Its yearly lines then repeat for decades.
Moving parts: each company, account or beneficiary class adds records and reports. The first year and every year of change feel it most.
Drafting complexity: a protector, a trust advisor or a bespoke distribution clause adds hours before signing and review work later.
A short-lived trust with cash and listed securities sits at one end of the range. A multi-generation structure with companies and protectors sits at the other.
Tell us which assets you expect to move and whether a holding company is involved. Those two answers shift the quote more than any other.
How to get a quote
A quote is not an offer. It becomes firm once the trustee and the law firm have read your papers and set their terms in writing. It sets out each cost block by stage, states its assumptions and changes if your facts change.
Send a short note with your country of residence, the assets you expect to transfer and who should benefit. We reply with follow-up questions and a list of papers to gather.
The structure decides more than the state. Companies, assets, drafting and the trustee's yearly work set most of it. We publish the set-up fee for a standard trust; ongoing administration, event work and third-party charges are quoted after we review your case.
What do I pay for when I set up a trust in South Dakota?
Before signing you pay for onboarding and design, the instrument and letter of wishes, trustee acceptance and any holding company. Yearly administration and bank charges follow. The written terms list every item before you agree to proceed, so you can compare one line against another.
Are there ongoing costs for a trust in South Dakota?
Yes, and they repeat each year of a dynasty trust. The trustee meets, signs resolutions, keeps accounts and files reports. Bank charges sit on top, and the quote shows each of them as a separate line. Ask for them early.
Pick a question for a short answer from our FAQ. Nothing you choose here is sent anywhere. This is a scripted guide from our FAQ, not live chat and not advice.
Setting up, the law and tax
What happens, step by step, when you set up an offshore trust?
First agree the purpose and who should benefit. Your lawyer drafts the deed under the chosen law while the trustee checks identity and the source of the assets. After signing, the assets move into the trustee’s name and are recorded. The guide shows each stage in more detail.
Usually the owner transfers the shares or membership interest to the trustee under the deed, after checking the company’s own documents and any consent a lender or partner must give. The trustee then holds the interest and the company carries on. Company, tax and local law checks come first, so involve your lawyer.
Yes, in the places whose law provides for them. A trust needs a lawful purpose, a valid deed under its governing law, and taxes and reporting dealt with where the people involved live. It cannot be used to hide assets, defeat existing creditors or evade tax. A trustee will refuse a trust whose purpose or funding it cannot confirm.
It depends on where the settlor, the beneficiaries, the trustee and the assets are, and on the law that governs the trust. Many countries tax trust income or distributions in the hands of the people they treat as owners or recipients, and exchange account data under international reporting rules. We do not give tax advice, so ask your own adviser before you sign.
How long does it take to appoint a Hong Kong trustee?
Time depends mostly on how quickly documents arrive and on checks by banks and registries outside our control, so we do not promise a date. Once you apply, the client portal shows each step and what is outstanding, and a 30-minute call sets out what to prepare first.
The cost depends on the structure, the places and assets involved, how many parties the trustee must check, and how much work the trust needs each year. We publish the set-up fee for each place; annual administration and event-based work are quoted after we review your case. Banking, legal and registry charges outside our control can add to it.
A trustee can borrow only if the deed and the governing law allow it. A lender will usually ask to see the deed, the trustee’s authority and the purpose of the loan. Some deeds limit borrowing or need a protector’s consent. Ask a lawyer before approaching a lender.
What is asset management, and is it what a trustee does?
Asset management means running investments for a client, usually under a licence. A trustee does something different: it holds the assets, checks instructions against the deed, approves distributions and keeps the record. A bank or licensed manager that the deed allows for can run the investments.
Hong Kong
Singapore
BVI
Jersey
