Nevis trust and LLC

Why the pairing works

A Nevis trust alone holds assets directly, which means the trustee must manage or approve every significant transaction. A Nevis LLC alone holds assets but the settlor's membership interest is a reachable asset — a judgment creditor can seek a charging order against it. Pairing the two structures solves both problems. The trust holds the LLC membership interest, putting it outside direct US enforcement. The LLC gives the settlor day-to-day management through the manager role without trustee involvement in each transaction. The result is practical control of the investment portfolio combined with offshore protection at the trust level.

What each layer does

The Nevis trust holds legal title to the LLC membership interest. A creditor pursuing the settlor cannot reach the membership interest because it is held by a Nevis trustee outside US jurisdiction. The trust layer provides the jurisdictional separation that is the core of the protection.

The Nevis LLC holds the actual assets — the investment portfolio, the property, the business interests. The settlor acts as manager of the LLC within limits set by the trustee. The manager can make day-to-day investment decisions, trade securities, and manage the company's operations without seeking trustee approval for each transaction. The trustee retains the ability to remove the settlor as manager.

The charging order advantage

A charging order is the remedy available to a judgment creditor of an LLC member in most US states: the right to receive distributions from the LLC when made, without the ability to force distributions or take control. Nevis charging order law applies to the Nevis LLC. A creditor who somehow reaches past the trust layer to the LLC membership interest still faces Nevis charging order law on that interest. This creates a second layer of protection below the trust.

The practical value of the charging order layer is limited in the structure described here, because a creditor who cannot reach the membership interest — because the trust holds it — never gets to the charging order question. But for US-based assets or in scenarios where the trust layer faces challenge, the charging order protection at the LLC level provides an additional barrier. See Nevis LLC charging order for the full analysis.

How it compares to a Cook Islands trust with an LLC

The same pairing exists in Cook Islands planning: a Cook Islands trust above, a Nevis or Cook Islands LLC below. The structural logic is identical. The difference is in the trust layer. A Cook Islands trust has thirty years of tested case law. A Nevis trust is cheaper. For a client who is already using or considering a Cook Islands trust, adding a Nevis LLC below it captures the charging order protection without requiring a separate Nevis trust. For a client who has settled on Nevis as their trust jurisdiction, the Nevis LLC below is the natural pairing.

Setting it up

The trust is settled first and the LLC formed alongside it or shortly after. The trustee accepts the LLC membership interest as a trust asset. The settlor is appointed as manager of the LLC, with the scope of that management authority defined in the LLC operating agreement and subject to the trustee's oversight as the legal owner. Banking for the LLC runs separately. The LLC holds the assets and the trust holds the LLC.

See Nevis LLC for the LLC structure in detail and asset protection for how the two layers work under pressure.