Cook Islands Trust for asset protection, Does it Work??

[run]

Is a Cook Island Foundation much diffrent in regards of asset protection than a cook island trust ?

@Sols

 

[Sols]

Yes, they are very different. At the core is the difference that foundations are legal persons (like companies), whereas trusts are not. A trust is just an agreement between two parties. It's not a thing in and of itself. This can make a big difference to the client, depending on where they live and to which country's laws they are answerable as well as the type, size/value, and scope of assets being held.

 

[EliasIT]

How exactly is an european court going to force a cook island trustee to release the assets? Moreover, how would that be posible if a spendtrift or distress clause would be inserted in the trust deed ? Can you please elaborate, maybe with some case examples ?

Very simply if you live in an EU or European country you have to comply to the tax regulations and laws there. If you try to move your assets abroad to protect them from any tax office or other law enforcement and they figure out you have a Trust there, they are able to freeze it all by court order.

 

[Frankie]

Very simply if you live in an EU or European country you have to comply to the tax regulations and laws there. If you try to move your assets abroad to protect them from any tax office or other law enforcement and they figure out you have a Trust there, they are able to freeze it all by court order.

100%. Or they put you in jail in contempt of court until you break the Trust and give your assets. All depends on the attack vectors

 

[TheGlobetrotter]

Very simply if you live in an EU or European country you have to comply to the tax regulations and laws there. If you try to move your assets abroad to protect them from any tax office or other law enforcement and they figure out you have a Trust there, they are able to freeze it all by court order.

All you are saying only applies to assets in Europe.
But if you have a Trust in Cook Island and invest in South America, what exactly is the european court going to seize ?

@ Frankie - 3 options
1) Spendtrift clause in the trust deed : you get replaced automatically as beneficiary when you are prosecuted / in trial
2) Distress clause - the trustee will ignore your orders if you are forced to give them
3) Asigning a Grantor which is out of the Jurisdiction ( optional - if you really trust him, giving him more powers that to yourself as settlor)
4) Not being the beneficiary to begin with.

It would be great we you could work with some concrete court cases , not with panic-monger material that is available everywhere.

 

[Propeller]

Yes, have worked with them many times.

That's good, I will use them when I take my new business next move forward.

 

[Frankie]

@ Frankie - 3 options
1) Spendtrift clause in the trust deed : you get replaced automatically as beneficiary when you are prosecuted / in trial
2) Distress clause - the trustee will ignore your orders if you are forced to give them
3) Asigning a Grantor which is out of the Jurisdiction ( optional - if you really trust him, giving him more powers that to yourself as settlor)
4) Not being the beneficiary to begin with.

It would be great we you could work with some concrete court cases , not with panic-monger material that is available everywhere.

1, 2, 3 - theoretically could work but it TIMING matters a lot.

Concrete court cases:
FTC v Affordable Media, LLC, 179 F.3d 1228 (9th Cir., 1999)
B.V. Brooks, 217 Bkrptcy. Rptr. 98 (Bkrptcy. DC Conn., 1998)
Larry Portnoy, 201 Bkrptcy. Rptr. 685 (Bkrptcy. DC N.Y., 1996)

Old but still very good explanation:
https://www.emalegal.com/wp-content...tection-Trusts-Impact-of-Recent-Case-Law-.pdf

Have you actually put any of these strategies to test under real legal attack?

 

[EliasIT]

Old but still very good explanation:
https://www.emalegal.com/wp-content...tection-Trusts-Impact-of-Recent-Case-Law-.pdf

pp should read this.

 

[Frankie]

pp should read this.

They should but unfortunately people believe the "marketing" hype rather than reality. And the marketing always sounds better