Trust & Succession
Trusts, foundations, and the offices that sit around them.
Who this page is for
Founders and controlling shareholders of listed and pre-listing companies
First-generation entrepreneurial families
Families planning a change of residence or status
What we do
01
Design
The family is mapped and the options compared, so what the structure is for is settled before anything is drafted.
Succession objectives and family map
Who the structure is for, in what order, and what each person is expected to receive.
Jurisdiction comparison
Where the structure should sit, read against where the family lives and the assets are held.
Trust, foundation or private trust company compared
The three forms set side by side, with the control each one gives away.
Source of wealth and source of funds prepared
The origin of the assets documented before an institution asks for it.
Tax and compliance read-ahead, alongside your own advisers
The questions your advisers will need to answer, raised early rather than at signing.
02
Establish
The documents are executed, the trustee takes office, and the assets are moved in and recorded.
Trust deeds drafted
The terms written out, including any powers reserved and the limits placed on them.
Trustee appointed and instruments executed
The trustee takes office and the founding documents are signed.
Assets transferred and registered
Shares, accounts and property moved into the structure and recorded in its name.
Foundations established, with councillors and a guardian where required
The council appointed and its rules of procedure written down.
Private trust companies established and administered
The company formed, its board constituted, and permissions applied for where needed.
Employee benefit and share option trusts
Arrangements set up to hold shares reserved for employees.
03
Administer
The structure is run day to day: books kept, distributions executed, reports made on a fixed cycle.
Day-to-day trustee administration
Meetings held, decisions minuted, and correspondence and instructions dealt with.
Books and annual reports
Accounts kept for each entity and reported once a year, in English and in Chinese.
Distributions executed and recorded
Payments made against a resolution, with the reasoning kept on file.
CRS and FATCA reporting
Account information collected and returned to the relevant authority each year.
Holding arrangements for policies and alternative assets
Insurance, funds and unlisted holdings held and monitored inside the structure.
04
Succession and termination
The structure is governed across generations, then changed, moved or brought to an end.
Letters of wishes
Your intentions written down for the trustee, and revised as the family changes.
Protector arrangements
A second office appointed, with the powers it holds set out in the deed.
Family charters and rules of procedure
How the family decides, and who is heard before a decision is taken.
Second-generation participation and education
The next generation brought into the structure before they inherit it.
Change of trustee, migration and restructuring
The trustee replaced, the governing law changed, or the structure rebuilt.
Death and succession events, including probate coordination
The provisions applied when they take effect, with the local process coordinated.
Termination and final distribution
The structure closed, the assets distributed and the records handed over.
We do not give investment advice and we do not take decisions on a client's behalf. Our role is to administer the structure and to keep the record straight.
Will a Guernsey trust be recognised where my family lives?
In most common law and civil law jurisdictions there is a settled route to recognition and enforcement. Whether it applies to you depends on where the beneficiaries are resident and where the assets sit. That is precisely what the design stage establishes, together with your local advisers. We give no guarantee.
Who can see my name?
Guernsey's register of beneficial ownership is held by the Guernsey Registry and is not open to the public. A consultation on granting access to persons who can demonstrate a legitimate interest — in preventing, detecting or investigating money laundering and terrorist financing — closed in April 2026; no implementation date has been announced. If it proceeds, disclosure would be limited to name, month and year of birth, country of residence, nationality, and the nature and extent of the beneficial interest.
Can I change trustee later?
Yes. The deed will say so, and we will tell you what it costs before you sign. What should keep a family with its trustee is the service, not the paperwork.