Founder & Chief Executive Officer
(OFFSHORE ASSET PROTECTION)
Offshore Asset Protection
Offshore asset protection puts your assets outside the routine reach of future creditors, by moving ownership to a licensed trustee in a jurisdiction that will not enforce foreign judgments. The Cook Islands and Nevis are the two strongest options available, and we coordinate trusts, underlying companies, banking and equity strategies in both. Structures from $10,000, with every first-year cost quoted before work starts.
(OVERVIEW)
Protection built around your exposure, not a template
Asset protection means arranging ownership so that what you have built is not available to satisfy claims that do not yet exist. It is advance planning, done from a solvent position. It is not something you reach for once a lawsuit has been filed.The offshore part matters because of jurisdiction. A domestic trust sits inside the same court system that entered judgment against you. A Cook Islands or Nevis trust does not: those courts refuse to enforce foreign judgments, make the creditor litigate again locally, and apply a criminal standard of proof to any allegation that a transfer was made to defraud.Most complete structures combine a trust, an underlying company, and a bank account. The trust owns the assets legally and supplies the statutory barriers. The company holds the accounts and investments with you as manager, so practical control stays with you. Where real estate is in play, equity stripping deals with the value that cannot be moved offshore. We advise on your actual exposure, and where a structure is not warranted we say so.
(HOW IT WORKS)
01
Consultation
A confidential conversation about your assets, residency, exposure and objectives — including an honest view on whether a structure is warranted at all.
02
Structure selection
We weigh the Cook Islands against Nevis, trust against company, and whether equity stripping or banking coordination belongs in the plan. Then we quote a fixed fee.
03
Formation
Due diligence, deed drafting, trustee and registered agent onboarding, company formation and account opening all run as one process.
04
Transfer your assets
A structure holding nothing protects nothing. Cash, investments, company interests, metals and loan proceeds are transferred and documented properly at the time of transfer.
(STRUCTURES AVAILABLE)
Structures used in offshore asset protection
An asset protection plan is normally a combination rather than one entity. Look through each structure, or bring your situation to a consultation and we will tell you which parts you actually need.
(AT A GLANCE)
How the structures compare
Each structure does a distinct job. Trusts shift legal ownership and supply the statutory creditor barriers. Companies restrict what a member’s creditor can obtain and hold the operating accounts. Banking makes the structure usable, and equity stripping deals with assets that cannot be relocated.
| Structure | Role in protection | From | Timeframe | View service |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Cook Islands Trust
The tested benchmark
|
The strongest court-tested protection available. Forty years of adversarial record against US judgment creditors. Usually owns an underlying LLC that holds the accounts. | $10,000 | 3–8 weeks | Explore |
|
Nevis Trust
The bond advantage
|
Built on the Cook Islands statute, with a US$100,000 creditor bond payable to the Nevis High Court before any suit can be filed. Pairs naturally with a Nevis LLC. | $10,000 | 3–8 weeks | Explore |
Nevis LLC
Strongest standalone company
|
Charging order is the only creditor remedy, for three years, non-renewable. The creditor bond applies at company level too, stopping speculative claims at the threshold. | $2,000 | 1–3 days | Explore |
|
Cook Islands LLC
Standard holding vehicle
|
Five-year non-renewable charging order as the exclusive remedy. Single-member LLCs are expressly allowed. The usual holding layer inside a Cook Islands Trust structure. | $2,000 | 5–10 days | Explore |
Offshore Foundation
Governance-led alternative
|
A self-owning entity with no trustee, run by a council or board the founder may sit on. Suits civil law founders and purpose structures. | $6,500 | 2–4 weeks | Explore |
Equity Stripping
Real estate exposure
|
Where property cannot be moved offshore, an independent secured facility reduces visible equity and the proceeds are held inside the protected structure. | On request | Varies | Explore |
Offshore Banking
Making it operational
|
A structure with no bank account is not yet doing anything. Account opening runs alongside formation rather than after it. | $1,000 | 2–6 weeks | Explore |
|
Total Protection
Coordinated combination
|
Trust, underlying company and bank account formed and funded together as one engagement, on a single fee and a single timeline. | $12,000 | 2–8 weeks | Explore |
Indicative fixed fees (USD), inclusive of government charges and first-year trustee or registered agent costs. Every engagement is quoted in full before work begins.
(OFFSHORE VS DOMESTIC)
How an offshore trust compares
Nineteen US states now offer a domestic asset protection trust, and they are routinely marketed as equivalent to an offshore structure at a fraction of the price. They are not equivalent. The difference is jurisdictional, and better drafting cannot close it.
Full faith and credit
A sister-state court can be required to give effect to another state’s judgment. Several courts have ordered domestic asset protection trust assets turned over on exactly that basis.
The Cook Islands and Nevis are sovereign nations sitting outside that constitutional framework. A US judgment is not registered and enforced; the creditor has to litigate again, locally.
The judge who hears the case
The same court system that gave judgment against you supervises the trust. It has jurisdiction over you, the trustee and the assets.
A Cook Islands court applies Cook Islands law. The foreign court has no jurisdiction over the trustee and no power to reach assets held beyond its borders.
Standard of proof on transfers
Fraudulent transfer claims are decided on the balance of probabilities — the ordinary civil standard.
Beyond reasonable doubt, applied creditor by creditor. The criminal standard, inside a civil claim.
Limitation period
Commonly four years, and longer in several states for creditors who already existed when the transfer was made.
One year from the cause of action or two years from the disposition, whichever runs out first.
Exception creditors
Most domestic statutes carve out divorcing spouses, child support, pre-existing tort claimants, and sometimes any pre-existing creditor at all.
No general carve-outs of that kind. The same barriers and the same test apply whoever the claimant is.
Contempt exposure
You stay within the court’s reach and can be ordered to unwind the trust, with contempt as the penalty for refusing.
Anti-duress provisions tell an independent trustee to disregard instructions given under compulsion, so compliance is genuinely beyond your power.
A general comparison of statutory frameworks, not legal advice about any particular state or set of facts. Domestic asset protection trusts have real uses, especially for residents of the states that offer them and for exposures that are not litigation-driven. The point here is narrower: they and offshore trusts are not interchangeable.
(TOTAL PROTECTION PACKAGE)
Trust, Company and Bank Account
A coordinated fixed-fee structure pairing a Cook Islands or Nevis trust with an underlying offshore company and a bank account at a partner institution. Formed together on a single timeline, so what you end up with is funded and working rather than a deed sitting in a drawer.
- Cook Islands or Nevis trust, with the deed drafted around your exposure and objectives
- Underlying offshore company holding the accounts, with you appointed manager
- Bank account at a partner institution, opened alongside formation rather than months later
- All government fees and first-year trustee and registered agent costs included
- Funding sequence and transfer documentation coordinated from day one
(ASSET PROTECTION)
What can an offshore structure protect?
Most asset classes can be moved into the structure or held through it. Real property is the exception, because land is always governed by the law of the place it sits — which is why equity stripping is dealt with separately below.
Liquid capital
Cash, deposits and multi-currency holdings, held through the structure’s accounts at partner institutions.
Investments
Brokerage portfolios, securities, funds and private-equity interests, held through the underlying company.
Real estate
Property cannot be relocated, so protection comes indirectly, through holding entities or equity stripping.
Business interests
Shares, LLC membership interests and partnership interests moved into the structure while trading carries on.
Digital assets
Cryptocurrency and digital holdings, where custody and key management can be documented properly.
Precious metals
Allocated bullion held in an approved offshore vault under the structure’s ownership.
(HEAD TO HEAD)
Cook Islands Trust or Nevis Trust
These are the two strongest asset protection jurisdictions available, and they are close relatives. Nevis built its ordinance on the Cook Islands statute, so the core barriers are almost identical. What separates them is the length of the contested court record and the Nevis creditor bond.
| Feature | Cook Islands TrustThe tested benchmark | Nevis TrustThe bond advantage |
|---|---|---|
| Governing statute | International Trusts Act 1984 | International Exempt Trust Ordinance 1994 |
| Track record | Forty years of adversarial testing, including against US federal agencies | Modelled on the Cook Islands statute, with a shorter contested record |
| Foreign judgments | Not recognised or enforced | Not recognised or enforced |
| Standard of proof | Beyond reasonable doubt | Beyond reasonable doubt |
| Limitation period | 1 year from cause of action, 2 years from disposition | 1 year from the date of the disposition |
| Creditor bond | None required | EC$270,000 (about US$100,000) posted before filing |
| Formation time | 3–8 weeks | 3–8 weeks |
| From | $10,000 | $10,000 |
The court record is what you are buying
Four decades of adversarial testing against US judgment creditors, receivers and federal agencies. Where the exposure is serious and the opponent is well resourced, that case history is itself the asset. This is what we recommend most often for US clients.
The bond is the deterrent that fits
Before filing suit at all, a creditor has to post roughly US$100,000 with the Nevis High Court. It is a hard financial gate at the threshold rather than a defence raised later, and it stops speculative claims before they are even drafted. Nevis also pairs naturally with a Nevis LLC.
Both jurisdictions require a licensed local trustee, and both are fully reportable at home. Which one is right depends on your residence, your assets, the nature of the exposure, and where a likely claimant would sue. We compare both in every consultation. Read more on the Cook Islands Trust and the Nevis Trust.
(LITIGATION RESPONSE)
What happens when a creditor comes
A domestic judgment creditor holding a valid order can usually reach your assets through ordinary enforcement. Against a properly established Cook Islands Trust, that judgment is where their difficulty starts rather than where it finishes. Follow each stage to see what the creditor has to do, and what the International Trusts Act 1984 does in response.
Stage 01 of 7
Judgment obtained
The creditor
The creditor wins at home and holds an enforceable judgment against you personally.
The statute
Section 13D of the International Trusts Act 1984 provides that a foreign judgment is neither recognised nor enforced against a Cook Islands trust. The judgment has no operative effect in Rarotonga.
Stage 02 of 7
Proceedings refiled
The creditor
To reach trust assets, the creditor has to begin entirely fresh proceedings in the Cook Islands, under Cook Islands law.
The statute
The claim is heard in Rarotonga. Contingency fees are not permitted, so the creditor pays their lawyers as the case runs rather than out of any eventual recovery.
Stage 03 of 7
Limitation defence
The creditor
The creditor must show the claim was brought in time.
The statute
A fraudulent transfer claim has to be brought within one year of the cause of action arising, or two years from the date of the disposition, whichever runs out first.
Stage 04 of 7
Standard of proof
The creditor
If the claim is in time, the creditor then has to prove the transfer was made with intent to defraud that specific creditor.
The statute
The standard is beyond reasonable doubt — the criminal standard, applied inside a civil claim, and applied creditor by creditor rather than at large.
Stage 05 of 7
Solvency test
The creditor
The creditor also has to show the transfer left the settlor insolvent.
The statute
A transfer is not fraudulent where the settlor stayed solvent after making it. A trust funded from surplus assets during a period of financial stability satisfies that on the documents alone.
Stage 06 of 7
Duress order
The creditor
Having lost in Rarotonga, the creditor goes home and asks the court to order you to repatriate the assets.
The statute
Anti-duress provisions in the deed direct the trustee to disregard instructions given under legal compulsion. The trustee is independent, sits outside the foreign court's jurisdiction, and is not bound by its orders.
Stage 07 of 7
Settlement
The creditor
Facing a second trial, a criminal standard of proof, a short limitation window and no enforcement route, the creditor reassesses.
The statute
Nothing in the statute forces a settlement. The economics do it: the expected cost of pursuit exceeds any realistic expected recovery.
A general description of statutory features only. Outcomes turn on the trust deed, the timing and documentation of transfers, the nature of the claim, the settlor’s solvency when the transfer was made, and the governing law applied. A trust established or funded after a claim has arisen is a materially different proposition, and nothing here promises any particular result.
(PRIVACY AND PURSUIT)
Hard to find. Harder to reach.
Asset protection is not only about winning the argument once it has started. A structure that is hard to find, hard to attribute and expensive to attack often means the argument never starts at all. These are the six practical obstacles a creditor runs into, in the order they meet them.
Locate
Discovery
No public register of trusts
The Cook Islands keeps no public register of trusts, settlors or beneficiaries. There is no filing to request, no database to query, and no annual return naming who benefits. A creditor investigating your affairs finds an absence rather than a foreign holding to attack.
Identify
Attribution
Assets sit under a company, not your name
In the standard structure the trust owns an LLC and the LLC holds the accounts and investments. Title searches, brokerage records and bank enquiries return the company, not you. The chain from your name to the asset runs through two entities in two jurisdictions.
Compel
Disclosure
Disclosure is limited by statute
Cook Islands trustees are bound by statutory confidentiality. A foreign discovery order does not bind them, and information about the trust cannot be obtained by serving process at home and waiting.
Fund
Financing
Local counsel must be paid upfront
Contingency fees are not permitted in the Cook Islands. A creditor cannot instruct counsel on a no-win-no-fee basis, and must fund a second full trial from their own resources with no assurance of recovery.
Prove
Evidence
A criminal standard on a civil claim
Even fully funded and in time, the creditor still has to prove fraudulent intent beyond reasonable doubt against that specific creditor. Most fraudulent transfer claims anywhere in the world are decided on the balance of probabilities.
Enforce
Execution
Nothing to enforce against locally
A judgment won at home cannot be registered and executed in Rarotonga. There is no local branch to garnish, no domestic asset to seize, and no reciprocal enforcement treaty that delivers the result.
Privacy here means confidentiality from opposing parties, not invisibility from your own tax authority. Cook Islands and Nevis structures are fully reportable, and we build every structure to be disclosed correctly at home. See common questions on CRS and home-country reporting.
(DETERRENCE)
Why most claims are never brought
Litigation is an investment decision. A contingency-fee lawyer deciding whether to take a case against you is weighing the chance of recovery against the cost of pursuit. A properly established offshore structure alters both sides of that calculation before anything is filed — which is why the structures that work best are the ones never tested.
0%
of a contingency-fee recovery is available from a claim the lawyer cannot fund and is unlikely to win
The economics do the work
Most claims against individuals are taken on contingency. The lawyer funds the case and takes a share of what is recovered. That model depends on assets that can be identified before filing and reached after judgment.
Where the assets sit inside a Cook Islands or Nevis structure, neither condition holds. There is nothing to identify on a public register, and a home judgment cannot be enforced against the structure. The case stops making commercial sense, and the demand letter that would otherwise have arrived never does.
This is the protection clients actually experience: not a courtroom victory, but a claim quietly reassessed and dropped.
What pursuit requires
Falls on
Second full trial in RarotongaFresh proceedings, from filing to judgment, in a foreign forum.
Creditor pays
Local counsel, hourlyNo contingency arrangements permitted. Fees are paid as the case runs.
Creditor pays
Travel, translation, expert evidenceWitnesses, documents, and experts moved 6,000 miles.
Creditor pays
Beyond reasonable doubtThe criminal standard, discharged creditor by creditor.
Creditor must prove
One and two year limitation windowsClaim must survive a threshold timing challenge before merits.
Creditor must prove
Settlor solvency at the date of transferA solvent settlor defeats the fraudulent transfer claim outright.
Creditor must prove
Deterrence works only where the structure was established and funded before a claim arose. One created in response to an existing or threatened claim draws scrutiny in your home courts, may be set aside, and can expose you to contempt findings. Timing is the single most important factor in this whole area.
(COMPANY-LEVEL PROTECTION)
What an offshore company adds
Trusts sit at the centre of most asset protection structures, but offshore companies do real work of their own. Charging order rules in the Cook Islands and Nevis limit what a member’s creditor can get, and the Nevis creditor bond stops claims at the threshold. Held under a trust, they close the last gap.
The $100,000 creditor bond
The strongest standalone company-level protection available anywhere.
Under the Nevis Limited Liability Company Ordinance, before a creditor may bring any action against a Nevis LLC or its member, they have to post a bond of EC$270,000 (about US$100,000) with the Nevis High Court. It is payable at the threshold, before the claim is filed, and winning later does not simply get it back. A speculative claim becomes a six-figure wager placed before any evidence is heard.
Bond posted before filing, not after judgment
Charging order is the sole creditor remedy, for three years, non-renewable
No distributions, no voting rights, no forced liquidation for the creditor
Formation in 1–3 days from KYC clearance, from $2,000
A five-year charging order, and nothing more
The standard holding vehicle inside a Cook Islands Trust structure.
Under the Limited Liability Companies Act 2008, a creditor who obtains a charging order against a member's interest gets only the right to be paid distributions if any are made. They acquire no management rights, cannot compel a distribution, and cannot force a winding up. The order lapses after five years and cannot be renewed. If the manager makes no distribution, the creditor waits five years and receives nothing.
Charging order is the exclusive remedy, expiring after five years
Single-member LLCs expressly permitted by statute
Manager retains control of distribution timing
Formation in 5–10 business days, from $2,000
Double-lock protection
The pairing most clients settle on, and the reason companies matter here at all.
A company on its own protects the assets inside it from claims against you personally — but your membership interest is still yours, and remains something a creditor can chase. Put the LLC under a Cook Islands or Nevis trust and that last link is cut: you no longer own the membership interest, the trustee does. The creditor now has to defeat the trust statute and the LLC statute, in two proceedings, in the right order.
Trust owns the LLC; you serve as manager for day-to-day banking
Creditor faces trust barriers and charging-order limits together
Practical control of accounts and investments is retained
The most commonly formed Offshore Companies Online structure
A company alone is no substitute for a trust where the exposure is personal. Read more on Cook Islands companies and Nevis companies, or see how both sit inside the Total Protection Package.
(REAL ESTATE AND HIGH-VALUE ASSETS)
Protecting equity you cannot move
Real property is the hardest asset to protect, because land is always governed by the law of the place it sits. A house in California remains subject to the California courts however it is owned. Equity stripping answers that by moving the value rather than the property: an independent lender advances against the equity, a lien is recorded, and the proceeds sit in the offshore structure.
The property stays. The equity moves.
A title search on an unencumbered property shows a large, visible, attachable pool of equity. It is the clearest single signal to anyone assessing whether you are worth suing.
Where a genuine third-party lender advances funds secured against that property, the recorded lien takes priority and the visible equity drops. The loan proceeds are then received by the offshore trust or a trust-owned company, where the Cook Islands or Nevis statutory protections apply to them.
01
Property and title reviewProperty value, existing mortgages, title ownership, available equity and local recording rules are all reviewed before any structure is considered.
02
Independent secured lenderA genuine third-party lender assesses the property and the borrower independently, sets commercial terms, and decides whether a facility can be offered at all.
03
Loan and recorded lienThe facility rests on enforceable loan and security documents, with the mortgage or lien recorded under the law of the place the property sits.
04
Proceeds to the offshore structureLoan proceeds are received by the offshore trust or a trust-owned company, under independent administration and documented ownership.
05
Banking, records and advisersAccount opening, custody, interest, repayments, tax reporting and annual administration are coordinated across the bank, trustee, lender and independent advisers.
Illustrative values only. This is educational: it is not a lending offer, a recommended leverage level, a guarantee of any protection result, or a statement that the approach is lawful or suitable everywhere. Equity stripping needs a genuine arm’s-length lender, real consideration, enforceable security and correct recording. Sham liens and loans to related parties get set aside and can expose you to fraudulent transfer findings. Tax, accounting and legal advice from independent advisers where the property sits is essential. See equity stripping for detail.
(JURISDICTION FINDER)
Compare trust and company jurisdictions
Use the product selector to switch between trust and company jurisdictions, then pick the features that matter to your situation to narrow things down.
(EXPERTISE)
Meet our asset protection specialists
John Evans
Forbes Business Council Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Rarotonga, Cook Islands
More than two decades of experience across offshore banking, asset protection, international companies and trusts.
Melanie Tetuaiteroi
Sales Assistant
Rarotonga, Cook Islands
Supports client onboarding, communications, documentation and operational coordination, backed by fiduciary administration experience.
(INSIGHTS)
Asset protection guides and planning commentary
Recent Articles
Explore our latest insights, practical guides and updates on international wealth structuring.
Offshore Asset Protection5 min read
When a Cook Islands Trust Will Not Protect Your Assets
Offshore Companies5 min read
Offshore Company Annual Maintenance Requirements
International Banking & Investment4 min read
Bank vs EMI for an Offshore Company
Asset Protection4 min read
When Is It Too Late for Asset Protection?
Offshore Companies4 min read
Best Offshore Company for Consultants and Agencies
Offshore Foundations4 min read
Offshore Foundation vs Offshore Trust
Asset Protection4 min read
LLC vs Trust for Asset Protection
Offshore Asset Protection5 min read
What Assets Can a Cook Islands Trust Own?
(ABOUT OFFSHORE ASSET PROTECTION)
What is offshore asset protection?
Offshore asset protection is the lawful use of foreign legal structures to put assets beyond the routine reach of future creditors. In practice that usually means a trust under Cook Islands or Nevis law, holding an underlying company which in turn holds the bank accounts and investments. The aim is neither secrecy nor tax reduction. It is to change who is legally able to reach your assets if someone brings a claim against you personally in future.
The mechanism is ownership. Once assets are transferred to a properly established offshore trust, they stop being yours. A licensed trustee in the jurisdiction holds legal title and administers them under a deed for the beneficiaries. A creditor chasing you personally is chasing assets you do not own and cannot be ordered to hand over, because you have no power to make the trustee release them.
What separates an offshore trust from a domestic one is jurisdiction, not drafting. Nineteen US states now offer domestic asset protection trusts and they are often sold as equivalent. They are not. A domestic trust sits inside the same legal system as the court that gave judgment against you, and sister-state judgments can be given effect under full faith and credit. Courts have ordered domestic trust assets turned over on exactly that footing. The Cook Islands and Nevis are sovereign nations outside that framework.
Section 13D of the Cook Islands International Trusts Act 1984 provides that a foreign judgment is neither recognised nor enforced against a Cook Islands trust. A creditor holding a US, UK or other judgment cannot register it in Rarotonga and execute against the trust. They have to begin entirely fresh proceedings in the Cook Islands under Cook Islands law. Contingency fee arrangements are not permitted there, so local counsel must be paid from the creditor’s own resources with no assurance of recovering anything.
Inside those proceedings the barriers are deliberately steep. A fraudulent transfer claim has to be brought within one year of the cause of action arising, or two years from the date of the disposition, whichever runs out first. The creditor has to prove intent to defraud that specific creditor beyond reasonable doubt — the criminal standard, applied to a civil claim — and has to show the transfer left the settlor insolvent. Most jurisdictions decide the same questions on the balance of probabilities across a four to six year window. The distance between those two positions is where most of the practical protection lives.
The Nevis International Exempt Trust Ordinance 1994 was modelled closely on the Cook Islands statute and carries the same core barriers, with one distinctive addition: before commencing any action against the trust, a creditor has to post a bond of EC$270,000 — roughly US$100,000 — with the Nevis High Court. It is a hard financial gate at the threshold rather than a defence raised later, and it is particularly effective against speculative or opportunistic claims.
Offshore companies do real work of their own inside these structures. Under the Limited Liability Companies Act 2008 in the Cook Islands and the Nevis Limited Liability Company Ordinance, the only remedy open to a creditor of an LLC member is a charging order: the right to receive distributions if any are made, with no management rights, no way to compel a distribution, and no power to force liquidation. The Cook Islands order lapses after five years and Nevis after three, and neither can be renewed. Nevis applies its creditor bond at company level as well. Putting the LLC under a trust closes the final gap, because the membership interest then belongs to the trustee rather than to you.
Real estate is the hardest asset to protect and the one clients ask about most. Land is always governed by the law of the place it sits, so a court keeps jurisdiction over property inside its borders however it is owned on paper. Equity stripping answers this by moving the value rather than the asset: an independent third-party lender advances funds secured against the property, the lien is properly recorded, and the proceeds are received by the offshore structure where the statutory protections apply. It needs a genuine arm’s-length lender, real consideration and enforceable security. Sham liens and related-party loans get set aside, and can expose the owner to fraudulent transfer findings.
Timing decides whether any of this works. Transfers made while no claim exists, no dispute is in prospect, and the settlor is demonstrably solvent are the easiest to defend and the fastest to become unchallengeable. Transfers made after a claim has arisen draw scrutiny offshore and — more seriously — at home, where the settlor is still within the court’s jurisdiction and contempt findings are a documented risk. No amount of drafting makes up for acting late.
These structures are fully reportable, and they are meant to be. For US persons an offshore trust is generally tax neutral under the grantor trust rules, with filings including Form 3520, Form 3520-A, FinCEN Form 114 and possibly Form 8938. Whatever tax you were paying before the structure, you will generally be paying after it. We do not facilitate tax evasion or concealment, and we tell clients directly when a structure is not warranted for their position.
(OFFSHORE ASSET PROTECTION GUIDE)
Understanding offshore asset protection
What is offshore asset protection?
Offshore asset protection is the lawful use of foreign legal structures — most often a trust in the Cook Islands or Nevis — to put assets beyond the routine reach of future creditors.
The mechanism is ownership. Assets transferred to a properly established offshore trust are no longer owned by you. A licensed trustee in the jurisdiction holds legal title and administers them under a deed for the beneficiaries. A creditor pursuing you personally is pursuing assets that are not yours to surrender.
What separates the offshore version from a domestic trust is jurisdiction. Cook Islands and Nevis courts do not recognise or enforce foreign judgments. A creditor holding a US judgment cannot register it locally and execute against the trust. They have to bring fresh proceedings in the foreign court, under that country’s law, at their own cost.
Inside those proceedings the barriers are high by design: a beyond-reasonable-doubt standard on fraudulent transfer, a limitation period measured in one or two years rather than four or six, and no contingency fee arrangements to fund the case. That combination is why these two jurisdictions are the international benchmark.
- Ownership passes to a licensed trustee under a deed you helped shape.
- Foreign judgments carry no operative effect in the Cook Islands or Nevis.
- A creditor must litigate again, locally, and fund it themselves.
- The standard of proof is criminal rather than civil, and it applies creditor by creditor.
- Protection is strongest where the structure was established well before any claim.
We coordinate licensed trustees, structure drafting, underlying companies and banking as a single engagement.
Discuss your exposureWho actually needs offshore asset protection?
Anyone whose personal wealth is exposed to claims insurance will not fully answer. That is a narrower group than the marketing suggests, and a wider one than most people assume.
Professional liability drives most of it. Physicians, surgeons, dentists, attorneys, accountants, architects and engineers all carry exposure that can exceed their coverage limits, and one adverse judgment can reach personal assets built up across a career.
Business owners and directors face guarantees, employment claims, regulatory action and disputes with partners or investors. Property developers and landlords carry premises liability across multiple sites. Executives holding concentrated equity face exposure that moves with the company.
High-net-worth families in litigious jurisdictions often have no particular claim in view, but recognise that visible unprotected wealth attracts them. Families spread across borders use the same structures for succession, avoiding probate in several countries at once.
- Physicians, surgeons and other high-liability medical professionals.
- Attorneys, accountants, architects, engineers and consultants.
- Business owners, directors and those who have given personal guarantees.
- Property developers, landlords and holders of concentrated real estate.
- Families with assets or beneficiaries across several jurisdictions.
If your exposure is fully covered by insurance and your assets are modest, we will tell you a structure is not warranted.
Book a consultationWhen must an offshore structure be established?
Before a claim exists. This is the single most important factor in this area, and no amount of drafting makes up for acting late.
Moving assets into a structure starts the limitation clock. A transfer made while no claim exists, no dispute is in prospect and you are demonstrably solvent is the easiest to defend and the quickest to become unchallengeable. Once the limitation period expires, the transfer cannot be attacked at all.
A transfer made after a claim has arisen is a different matter entirely. It draws scrutiny in the offshore court and, more seriously, at home, where you remain within the court’s jurisdiction. Judges are practised at spotting assets moved in response to litigation, and contempt findings against settlors who transferred late are a documented risk.
Formation runs three to eight weeks for a trust, plus four to eight weeks for bank account opening. A structure set up today is materially stronger in three years' time than one set up the week a demand letter lands.
- Strongest: established and funded years before any dispute is contemplated.
- Workable: established during financial stability with documented commercial rationale.
- Difficult: established after a claim has arisen, with home-court exposure.
- The limitation clock runs from the transfer, not from the date the trust was formed.
- Total timeline is usually six to twelve weeks from engagement to funded.
If there is an existing or threatened claim, tell us at the outset so we can advise honestly on what is still available to you.
Speak to a specialistHow much control do you keep?
More than people expect, and deliberately less than total. Where the balance sits is a drafting decision taken at the outset.
A trustee who simply does what you tell them is not exercising independent judgment, and a creditor will argue the trust is a sham and the assets were always yours. Genuine trustee independence is not an inconvenience in the structure — it is the thing that makes the structure work.
Within that constraint, practical involvement is preserved several ways. The deed can reserve specified powers to you. A protector can be appointed, often a trusted adviser, with authority to approve major decisions or replace the trustee. A letter of wishes records your intentions for the trustee to weigh.
Day-to-day activity normally runs through an underlying LLC. The trust owns the company, you are appointed manager, and you operate the bank and brokerage accounts directly. Anti-duress provisions then direct the trustee to disregard instructions given under legal compulsion — including instructions from you.
- Reserved powers defined in the deed rather than assumed informally.
- A protector with consent or trustee-replacement rights.
- Manager role in the underlying LLC for day-to-day banking.
- Letter of wishes recording intentions for the trustee to weigh.
- Anti-duress provisions that engage when you are ordered to repatriate.
We draft the control balance around your circumstances rather than issuing a standard deed.
Discuss the structureIs offshore asset protection legal?
Yes, where it is done properly and reported correctly. It is not a tax strategy, and it is not concealment.
Offshore trusts and companies are lawful structures used by families, professionals and businesses worldwide. What makes one lawful is timing and disclosure: assets transferred before a claim arises, from a solvent position, and reported to your home tax authority.
For US persons, an offshore trust is generally tax neutral. A foreign grantor trust is disregarded for income tax, so you carry on reporting and paying tax on the income as though you held the assets directly. Filing obligations typically include Form 3520, Form 3520-A, FinCEN Form 114 (FBAR) and possibly Form 8938. Whatever you paid before, you generally pay after.
What is not lawful is moving assets to defeat a creditor whose claim already exists, or failing to report the structure. Both are serious, and both are avoidable. We do not facilitate tax evasion or concealment, and every structure we build is built to be disclosed.
- Lawful when established before a claim, from a solvent position.
- Tax neutral for US persons under the grantor trust rules.
- Form 3520, 3520-A, FBAR and possibly 8938 filings apply.
- CRS reporting attaches wherever the structure banks.
- We refer clients to qualified international tax advisers where needed.
Every structure we form is designed to be reported correctly at home.
Ask about reportingWhat does offshore asset protection cost?
A standalone Cook Islands or Nevis trust starts at $10,000. The complete structure with company and banking is $12,000.
Formation fees are fixed and quoted in full before work begins. A standalone trust is $10,000. Adding an underlying LLC takes it to $11,000. The Total Protection Package, combining trust, company and a bank account at a partner institution, is $12,000. All government fees and first-year trustee and agent costs are included.
Ongoing cost is the part people underestimate. Annual trustee fees, registered agent fees and administration typically run $3,500 to $7,500 depending on complexity and asset mix. Home-country tax preparation for the extra filings is a further annual cost to budget with your accountant.
The structure is worth establishing where the assets being protected substantially exceed those costs over a realistic horizon. For portfolios below roughly $500,000 the honest answer is usually that insurance and domestic planning serve you better — and we will say so.
- Standalone Cook Islands or Nevis trust: $10,000.
- Trust with underlying LLC: $11,000.
- Total Protection Package, including banking: $12,000.
- Annual maintenance: typically $3,500 to $7,500.
- All quoted before engagement, with no hidden third-party costs.
If a structure is not warranted for your position, we will tell you at the consultation rather than after the invoice.
Request a quoteCook Islands, Nevis, or somewhere else?
For asset protection specifically, these two are the serious options. Most other jurisdictions get chosen for tax or banking reasons rather than creditor protection.
The Cook Islands passed the first purpose-built asset protection trust legislation in 1984 and has forty years of contested case law behind it, including successful resistance to US federal agency action. Where the exposure is serious and the likely opponent is well resourced, that case history is the reason to choose it.
Nevis modelled its 1994 ordinance closely on the Cook Islands statute and added something distinctive: before filing suit, a creditor has to post roughly US$100,000 with the Nevis High Court. It is a hard financial gate at the threshold, and it is particularly effective against speculative claims.
Other jurisdictions serve other purposes. Cayman and BVI are strong for funds and holding structures. Switzerland and Singapore lead on banking and custody. None matches the Cook Islands or Nevis for creditor protection specifically, and we will not pretend otherwise to place a structure.
- Cook Islands: the longest adversarial court record, since 1984.
- Nevis: the US$100,000 creditor bond, payable before filing.
- Both refuse recognition of foreign judgments.
- Both apply a beyond-reasonable-doubt standard on transfers.
- Jurisdiction choice follows your residence, assets and likely claimant.
Use the jurisdiction finder above to compare, then bring your situation to a consultation.
Compare jurisdictionsWhat offshore asset protection cannot do
Being direct about the limits is more useful than overselling the protection, and it is how you avoid paying for an expensive structure that does not fit.
It will not defeat a claim that already exists. Transfers made once a dispute has arisen are challengeable at home and abroad, and can expose you personally to contempt proceedings. It will not reduce your tax. For US persons the structure is tax neutral by design, and anyone marketing it as a tax reduction device is describing something illegal.
It will not protect real estate directly. Land is governed by the law of the place it sits, so a foreign court keeps jurisdiction over property inside its borders regardless of whose name is on the title. That is precisely why equity stripping exists as a separate technique.
It will not survive careless administration. A structure that is not properly funded, where trustee independence is undermined in practice, or where filings are neglected, can be unwound. And it will not make you invisible: these structures are reported, and they are meant to be.
- No defence against claims that predate the transfer.
- No tax reduction; the structure is tax neutral by design.
- No direct protection for real property in its home jurisdiction.
- No protection where trustee independence is undermined in practice.
- No confidentiality from your own tax authority.
If your situation falls outside what these structures can do, we would rather tell you now.
Get an honest assessment(COMMON QUESTIONS)
Offshore asset protection is the lawful use of foreign legal structures — most often a trust in the Cook Islands or Nevis, to put assets beyond the routine reach of future creditors. Assets transferred to the trust are held by a licensed local trustee rather than by you, and the local courts do not recognise or enforce foreign judgments against them. A creditor has to start again with fresh proceedings in that jurisdiction, at their own cost, under a standard of proof far higher than the one applied at home.
Yes, where the structure is established before a claim arises, funded from a solvent position, and reported correctly to your home tax authority. What is unlawful is moving assets to defeat a creditor whose claim already exists, or failing to disclose the structure on your tax filings. For US persons an offshore trust is generally tax neutral under the grantor trust rules, and filings typically include Form 3520, Form 3520-A, FBAR and possibly Form 8938. We do not facilitate tax evasion or concealment.
No — and any adviser suggesting otherwise is describing something illegal. For US persons a foreign grantor trust is disregarded for income tax, so you carry on reporting and paying tax on trust income as though you held the assets directly. The structure changes who can reach your assets, not what you owe. Clients elsewhere should confirm their own position with a qualified international tax adviser before establishing anything.
They are close relatives: Nevis modelled its 1994 ordinance on the Cook Islands statute of 1984. Both refuse to enforce foreign judgments, both apply a beyond-reasonable-doubt standard to fraudulent transfer claims, and both run short limitation periods. The Cook Islands has the longer adversarial court record, including against US federal agencies, which is why we most often recommend it where exposure is serious. Nevis makes a creditor post roughly US$100,000 with the High Court before filing at all, which is a very effective gate against speculative claims.
The difference is jurisdictional rather than a matter of drafting. A domestic trust sits inside the same legal system as the court that gave judgment against you, and sister-state judgments can be given effect under full faith and credit. Several US courts have ordered domestic trust assets turned over. Offshore, the trustee sits outside the foreign court’s jurisdiction, the judgment has no local effect, and the creditor must litigate again under a criminal standard of proof, inside a one or two year limitation window, with no contingency fee funding available.
You keep substantial practical involvement, but not unrestricted personal control — because a trustee who simply follows instructions hands a creditor the argument that the trust is a sham. In practice the deed reserves specified powers to you, a protector may be appointed with authority to approve major decisions or replace the trustee, and day-to-day banking and investment runs through an underlying LLC where you serve as manager. Anti-duress provisions then direct the trustee to disregard instructions given under legal compulsion, including from you.
A standalone Cook Islands or Nevis trust starts at $10,000, a trust with an underlying LLC is $11,000, and the Total Protection Package including banking is $12,000. All government fees and first-year trustee and agent costs are included, and quoted before work begins. Annual maintenance typically runs $3,500 to $7,500. As a rough guide, the structure earns its cost where the assets being protected substantially exceed it over a realistic horizon. Below roughly $500,000, insurance and domestic planning usually serve you better, and we will say so.
Not directly. Real property is always governed by the law of the place it sits, so a court keeps jurisdiction over a house inside its borders regardless of who owns it on paper. The two workable approaches are holding the property through an entity the structure owns, and equity stripping, where an independent third-party lender advances funds secured against the property and the proceeds are held offshore. Equity stripping needs a genuine arm’s-length lender, real consideration and properly recorded security; sham liens get set aside.
Trust formation usually runs three to eight weeks from engagement, subject to trustee due diligence, drafting and how quickly documents come together. Bank account opening adds another four to eight weeks, so most structures are funded and working within six to twelve weeks. Companies are faster — one to three days in Nevis, five to ten business days in the Cook Islands. Because timing is what determines the strength of the protection, there is nothing to gain by waiting.
They have to bring fresh proceedings in the Cook Islands or Nevis, fund local counsel without a contingency arrangement, get the claim in inside the statutory limitation window, prove intent to defraud that specific creditor beyond reasonable doubt, and show the transfer left you insolvent. If they then go home and obtain an order requiring repatriation, anti-duress provisions direct the trustee to disregard it. In practice the great majority of properly established structures are never litigated to judgment, because the economics of pursuit simply do not work.
(CONTACT US)
Speak to a specialist. Let’s build your structure.
Book a confidential, no-obligation consultation with a senior member of our team to discuss your objectives and the services we have available.
