Frequently Asked Questions

Our standard Trust Deed removes assets from the settlor’s personal estate and places them under the legal ownership of a licensed trustee. This prevents creditors, courts, or outside parties from reaching the assets, as the trust is administered solely under the terms of the deed and the governing jurisdiction.

Our standard Trust Deed establishes a discretionary, irrevocable trust:

• Irrevocability prevents the settlor or creditors from compelling the trust to unwind.
• Discretionary distributions ensure beneficiaries have no fixed rights or entitlements.

This structure is written into the deed and forms the legal basis for asset protection.

Settlor – Contributes assets to the trust.

Trustee – Licensed corporate trustee with broad administrative powers under our deed.

Protector – Oversees key actions and may approve or deny trustee decisions.

Beneficiaries – Eligible persons or classes who may benefit, with no vested rights.

All roles and powers are expressly defined in our deed.

Our standard Trust Deed permits the trustee to accept:

• Cash and investment portfolios
• LLC interests and corporate shares
• Real estate (through entities)
• Digital assets
• Intellectual property
• Insurance and annuity products
• Operating businesses and alternative investments

Additional assets may be added with trustee approval.

Under our standard Trust Deed, all distributions are at the trustee’s sole discretion. The trustee may make payments, cover expenses, allow use of trust property, or create sub-trusts. Beneficiaries hold no fixed rights, and because beneficiaries do not have enforceable rights, creditors cannot compel or intercept distributions.

Our standard Trust Deed provides a limited power enabling the settlor to direct final asset distribution during life via written instruction, and at death through a will or codicil, subject to restrictions preventing personal benefit.

Protections built directly into our deed include:

• Spendthrift protections – These provisions prevent a beneficiary’s personal creditors from accessing their interest in the trust. Since beneficiaries have no fixed entitlement under our standard Trust Deed, creditors cannot seize, garnish, or force distributions intended for a beneficiary.
• High evidentiary thresholds for challenges – Any creditor attempting to dispute transfers into the trust must meet an elevated standard of proof. This makes challenges significantly harder to succeed and discourages speculative or weak claims.
• Non-recognition of foreign judgments – Courts in the Cook Islands and Nevis do not enforce foreign court orders against the trust. Creditors must start a new case locally, under local law, an expensive, time-consuming, and uncertain process.
• Anti-duress provisions – If a person attempts to influence the trust under coercion, legal pressure, or through a foreign court’s compulsion, those actions are treated as void. This ensures the trustee cannot be forced into decisions outside the trust’s governing law.
• Exclusive local jurisdiction – All disputes relating to the trust must be heard in the governing jurisdiction’s courts. This prevents foreign courts from asserting authority and ensures the trust is interpreted under the laws it was designed to operate under.
• Strict limitation periods – Challenges to transfers into the trust must be brought within a short statutory timeframe. Once that window closes, the transfer becomes final and cannot be reopened. This ensures long-term certainty regarding settled assets.

Our standard Trust Deed is not publicly filed, and beneficiaries and internal provisions remain confidential.

Our standard Trust Deed provides that the trust will terminate:

• 100 years from the Settlement Date, or
• 21 years after the death of the last surviving member of the specified beneficiary class,

whichever is later.

Although irrevocable, our standard Trust Deed allows for carefully defined modification mechanisms, including:

• Administrative amendments
• Trustee replacement
• Beneficiary updates
• Restructuring or migrating the trust to another jurisdiction

These mechanisms ensure flexibility while preserving asset protection.

Our deed grants the trustee broad powers to:

• Invest globally
• Buy, sell, operate, or restructure assets
• Borrow or lend
• Run businesses
• Appoint advisors and managers

These powers enable efficient modern administration.

Yes. The Protector may remove and replace the trustee under conditions set out in our deed.

Our standard Trust Deed can be implemented as either a Grantor or Non-Grantor trust depending on the settlor’s tax strategy and professional advice.

Yes. Our deed includes migration powers enabling relocation if strategic or geopolitical circumstances change.

Our deed permits the trustee to appoint custodians or nominated persons to act for minors, unborn beneficiaries, or those unable to act.

A foundation is an independent legal entity with no shareholders. It is governed by a Foundation Council rather than a trustee and holds assets in its own name. While a trust separates ownership through fiduciary relationships, a foundation provides a corporate-style structure with no equity interests and with clearly defined governance mechanisms.

Both Cook Islands and Nevis foundations share a similar structural framework:

• A Founder – the individual who initiates the establishment of the foundation
• A Registered Agent and Registered Office – provided by a licensed service provider in the jurisdiction
• A Formation Instrument – specifying the name, purpose, and operating parameters of the foundation
• Foundation Rules – outlining internal governance, rights and powers, appointment procedures, and Council responsibilities
• A Foundation Council – the governing body responsible for administering assets and carrying out the foundation’s objects
• Enforcer (optional) – appointed to ensure the Council complies with the foundation’s rules and purpose.

Nevis foundations may adopt and change their “multiform” identity, allowing them to function as:

• A trust-form foundation
• A company-form foundation
• A partnership-form foundation
• A standard foundation

This multiform can be altered during the life of the foundation, offering exceptional flexibility. They may also convert from or into other entity types, continue from foreign jurisdictions, merge, or discontinue into another jurisdiction.

Foundations may own virtually any asset class, including:

• Investment portfolios
• Real estate
• LLCs, IBCs, and other company shares
• Intellectual property and royalties
• Operating businesses
• Insurance products
• High-value assets such as vessels, aircraft, or artwork
• Special-purpose entities for unique transactions

Foundations in both jurisdictions include:

• Non-recognition of foreign judgments – foreign court orders cannot be enforced against foundation assets
• Two-year limitation period – creditors typically have only two years to challenge a transfer into the foundation
• High burden of proof – challengers must prove intent to defraud, often to a very high evidentiary standard
• Forced heirship protection – foreign inheritance rules cannot invalidate the foundation or its endowments
• Creditor remedies limited – typically restricted to compensatory damages; punitive damages are barred
• Managerial independence – Foundation Councils owe duties to the foundation’s objects, not individual beneficiaries

Nevis: Creditors may be required to post a USD 100,000 bond before litigation can begin.

Only limited registration details are publicly recorded. Information about founders, beneficiaries, Council members, contributors, and assets remains confidential and held solely by the registered agent.

Both jurisdictions allow for long-duration or perpetual foundations, making them ideal for dynastic wealth planning and intergenerational governance.

Foundations may be used for:

• Succession planning and family governance
• Holding concentrated or illiquid assets
• Acting as a Private Trust Company (PTC) owner
• Serving as protector or enforcer in trust plans
• Philanthropic or mission-driven endeavors
• Corporate or investment structuring
• Wealth consolidation under a single entity

Foundations may operate:

• As an alternative to a trust
• Alongside a trust to hold specific asset classes
• As an owner of LLCs, IBCs, or PTCs
• As a governance body over family assets
• As a succession-planning framework for businesses or investment entities

Their flexibility and structural independence make them powerful tools in sophisticated asset-protection and estate-planning strategies.

Yes, typically through an underlying LLC or IBC. Our standard company documents and Operating Agreements allow the client to act as Manager or Director of a company, giving them day-to-day control of company activities.

However, when assets are owned by the trust, the trustee must approve any transfer that constitutes a distribution, and the trustee must be informed when new assets are contributed to the structure.

Our standard Trust Deed may appoint a Protector with powers such as approving major trustee decisions or removing and replacing the trustee. This provides oversight while preserving the trust’s independence and compliance.

Wealth Web can assist with the setup of an independent corporate Protector for clients who require this on their trust.

Real estate is typically held in an underlying LLC owned by the trust. This approach isolates liability, simplifies administration, and ensures proper compliance with distribution and asset-contribution protocols.

Clients must provide identification, proof of address, tax residency information, and documentation evidencing source of funds and source of wealth. Beneficiary details may also be required depending on the structure.

Most structures can be established within two to three weeks once due diligence is complete. Bank accounts may require additional time depending on the institution and jurisdiction.

Yes. We routinely work with clients’ attorneys, CPAs, investment managers, and other advisors to ensure the trust, LLC, foundation, or corporate structure aligns with the client’s broader planning strategy and compliance requirements.

1. Contact Us: Reach out to us by leaving a message or booking a consultation with a specialist. We will discuss your needs, answer your questions, and guide you through the next steps.

2. Complete Our Form: Complete our confidential and secure onboarding process to begin your application. During this stage, we may request supporting documents to meet jurisdictional requirements and ensure a smooth registration process.

3. Finalize Requirements: Our team will conduct its final compliance checks and confirm that all due-diligence requirements are met in your chosen jurisdiction. Once cleared, registration will proceed.

4. Registration: Your entity is registered. We provide a formal introduction to your registered agent, who will serve as your point of contact for ongoing compliance, maintenance, and jurisdictional matters.

We assist with the setup of:

• Cook Islands Trusts, LLCs, and Foundations
• Nevis Trusts, LLCs, IBCs, and Foundations
• International Business Companies and LLCs in 20+ additional jurisdictions (USA, UAE, BVI, Cayman Islands, Hong Kong etc) upon request, all visible on our services page

Every structure is established through licensed and regulated service providers in their respective jurisdictions. Wealth Web adds the expertise needed to integrate multiple offshore components—ensuring proper alignment from the Trust down through underlying companies, banking arrangements, and investment platforms.

This coordinated approach ensures that every layer of the structure supports asset protection, administration, reporting, and long-term planning goals.

At Wealth Web, our team brings over 30 years of combined expertise in offshore structuring, fiduciary planning, and international corporate administration. Clients choose us because we provide a professional, seamless, and highly coordinated experience across multiple jurisdictions.

We serve as your dedicated partner throughout the entire engagement.
Where applicable, we work closely with thoroughly vetted licensed service providers, ensuring that your onboarding aligns precisely with their established procedures and compliance requirements. Our role is to manage the process end-to-end anticipating what each jurisdiction requires, preparing clients ahead of time, and eliminating unnecessary delays.

Wealth Web specialises in simplifying what is traditionally a complex area:
the setup and coordination of multijurisdictional structures.
This includes integrating trusts, LLCs/IBCs, foundations, banking, and compliance in a way that ensures every entity from the trust down is connected correctly and operating as intended.

Clients rely on Wealth Web because we offer:

• Expert Structuring: We design coherent asset-protection frameworks that align the trust, underlying companies, and banking relationships into one cohesive structure.
• Jurisdictional Expertise: Our familiarity with the Cook Islands, Nevis, and 20+ additional jurisdictions allows us to guide clients to the right combination of entities for their goals.
• Regulated Professional Partnerships: All implementation is carried out through licensed and regulated trustees, registered agents, and service providers.
• Administrative Efficiency: We streamline every stage from due diligence to formation to ongoing compliance so clients avoid the friction that typically accompanies international structuring.
• Long-Term Support: We ensure clients understand ongoing obligations, including communications protocols, trustee interactions, management-account requirements, and asset-transfer procedures.
• Tailored Solutions: Every structure is custom-built around the client’s needs, whether for asset protection, privacy, estate planning, or business operations.

With Wealth Web, clients gain access to top-tier international jurisdictions, supported by professional administration, deep experience, and a process purposely designed to make offshore structuring clear, secure, and efficient.