The
Cook Islands International Trusts Act 1984 (the ‘Act’), and specifically section 13B of the Act, is the reason Cook Islands
asset protection trusts have such an unparalleled reputation and set the
gold standard for asset protection trusts. If a
creditor is looking to break open a trust and force a distribution from it, they need to satisfy section 13B. And section 13B is very hard to satisfy for a number of reasons. For a start, there’s the logistical side: because foreign judgments are not enforceable in the Cook Islands, the creditor needs to bring proceedings there. The Cook Islands is one of the most geographically remote nations on the planet, sitting a 10-hour flight from the US west coast and 4 hours from
New Zealand on the other side of the Pacific. Bringing proceedings there entails serving the Cook Islands trustee company, and finding a local attorney (from a very small pool) who specialises in asset protection and is not prevented from acting because of previous dealings with one or more of the local trustee companies. And this side of things is due to get even harder soon, as an amendment to the Act is going through the Cook Islands Parliament which will require a bond of
USD250,000 to be paid into court by any creditor bringing proceedings against a trust prior to those proceedings commencing