Offshore Companies and Trusts

More and more people have interests abroad. You may have foreign property or investments, employment or marital ties overseas, or be involved with an international company. Perhaps you are a UK resident planning to move overseas or a non-UK resident looking to relocate your family or your business to the UK for tax reasons.

We advise on:

Offshore trust and offshore company - creation and advice on how they can be used to protect your assets from UK and foreign taxation laws.

  • Succession law - in your favoured jurisdiction.
  • Wills - new wills to reflect your changed circumstances
  • Residency permits and entry visas
  • Uses of an Offshore Services Structure

Below we illustrate some situations where an offshore structure is used:

  1. Taxation Offshore structures can mitigate taxation, although specialist local advice should always be taken by a client.
  2. Offshore trusts have for many years been an essential element of successful tax planning. The basis for this is that a trust is a quite separate legal entity from the settlor, and the income and assets of the trust may therefore be excluded from an individual's estate for tax purposes.
    Estate Planning - Many people do not want their assets to pass outright to their heirs, whether chosen by them or as prescribed by law, and prefer to make more complicated arrangements. These might involve providing a source of income for a widow for life, making provision for the education of children or providing a fund to protect members of the family in the event of sudden illness or other disasters. A trust is probably the most satisfactory and flexible way of making arrangements of this kind.
  3. Investment in Offshore Company Your offshore company provides the ideal vehicle to hold investment portfolios. We act for high net worth individuals administering companies which hold quoted and unquoted investments.
  4. Consultancy & Professional Services Your offshore company can provide a very effective vehicle for the provision of professional services in computer, entertainment, engineering and other fields.
    The company enters into a contract for the provision of services, and the fees accumulate offshore. The consultant is then remunerated in a way to minimise income tax in his or her country of residence.
    Structures can also be set-up for companies which employ staff on overseas contracts and assignments.
  5. Asset Protection Trusts set up for bona fide reasons can be excellent asset protection vehicles. Trusts can also protect the continuity of family wealth, by avoiding forced heirship provisions, and by imposing conditions on the use and distribution of the funds within the trust.
    Asset protection strategies basically work by making the assets of an individual unavailable, or exceptionally difficult to recover, (and hence potentially more unattractive) in the event of legal proceedings being taken against them by employees, clients, patients, litigious family members or other creditors.
  6. Property and Real Estate Many use an offshore company and offshore trust to own property and land. There are many advantages to this, especially regarding taxation (capital gains and inheritance tax; and in some cases income tax) and confidentiality.
    The process of sale can be simplified. Once title of a property has vested in an offshore structure, sale of the property can be by sale of shares in the company. Hence, the avoidance of land transfer documents.


Contact Us for more information on: 0800 634 4679 or fill out our online form.