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Structure to irrevocably gift to future descendants?

ppuk

New member
Jan 31, 2020
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Please I'd love a minute of thought from the bright minds here. I just joined the paid mentor group today because I'm so impressed with the quality of discourse and breadth of knowledge here.

I'm trying to choose the right structure and jurisdiction for my situation:

Years ago, I made more money than I'll ever spend. It's free and clear, cash held in my personal name.

I'd like to gift most of the cash now into a structure so it's no longer mine — no longer my assets; I'm not the official controller nor beneficiary — so it can go to my future grandchildren or great-grandchildren or charity some day. After my death, the structure can carry on, passing my rights to my kids.

It will just hold a few passive ETFs in an efficient brokerage, in an efficient jurisdiction — whether tax-free, low-tax, or just doesn't tax capital gains (since that's its only type of profit) — and sit like that for 50-100 years, mostly untouched, compounding interest.

I've looked at trusts but I don't like the high ongoing cost of a trustee taking responsibility for the assets. So far, I think a private foundation is the best match for what I want, though I'm open to suggestion.

I'm a Kiwi resident (non-dom) in UK, but who knows where I'll live next. So I'm doing this also as advance planning in case I live in a country that taxes worldwide income. Gift it out now while I can, irrevocably, so that it can stand on its own, belonging to the future, not my personal assets. Though I'll have some kind of "protector" role or something that will allow me to request a distribution in case of surprise emergency, but I'm hoping that will never be necessary.

So…

I could make a foundation somewhere very cheap, like Nevis or Cook, but then it would be hard to get a good efficient brokerage account.

I could make the foundation somewhere expensive, like Europe or Channel Islands, where it would be easier to get a brokerage account, though the £5K-£10K annual costs over 50-100 years really add up.

So what are the other options?

A cheap foundation, but then holding a pass-through Wyoming LLC that has the brokerage account?

Something else?

I've somewhat (c)racked my brain over-thinking this, and would really appreciate any suggestions.

Thank you.
 
I hope it is not cost alone that is the deciding factor to use a Foundation rather than a Trust? ns2.

I've looked at trusts but I don't like the high ongoing cost of a trustee taking responsibility for the assets. So far, I think a private foundation is the best match for what I want, though I'm open to suggestion.

£5-10k is not a lot to manage a foundation at all. People pay that just to operate some UAE freezone companies each year :confused:. I would personally go with a reputable trust/foundation provider in channel islands. Caribbean is good also. In fact some of the providers out of Channel Islands put part of the structure in Caribbean such as the operating company which bolts on to the Trust for certain activity ;).

There are some low cost well established Bank/Trust operators in channel islands where you can get Trust/Foundation, brokerage and Bank in one such as NEDBank.
 
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About $10M USD. But there are no beneficiaries yet. I'm leaving it to future descendants 50-100 years from now.

I prefer Foundation vs Trust because it doesn't need a 3rd-party entity (trustee) to be responsible for its holdings.

Thanks, Martin, for the all-in-one idea. I hadn't considered that.

Any other suggestions, anyone?
 
May I ask, and sorry for this stupid question, have you spoken to a lawyer locally if they are able to help you with something like a Trust or Foundation?
 
$10 millon is enough to not worry about 5-10k in fees, your interest will cover that. Go to a real lawyer to help you find an adequate structure. A foundation might be the best fit for you. Possibly an international one like in Nevis where you can still maintain a large degree of control.