Mini Trusts

An internal review of the hundreds of client companies we hold under administration brought to light a potential problem. We noticed that the companies are being held by our nominee companies to the sole ownership of the client. Under Isle of Man law, should the client die whilst still owning the company, their personal representatives would either have to prove the will in the manx courts, or, in the absence of a will, obtain a manx Grant of Administration. Either way, this would be of considerable cost to the beneficiaries in both legal fees and time.

With this in mind, our corporate and fiduciary team has developed a simple form of contingent trust which enables the client to keep full control of the company and related assets during their lifetime. This contingent trust is then automatically activated after death, and the company and related assets are distributed in accordance with the client’s wishes under the trust deed without any requirement to go through the manx courts.

We have called this the Mini Trust and believe it to be a perfect solution, giving the client peace of mind and their beneficiaries a much less complicated situation to deal with during what is always a difficult time.