Can somebody give a little bit more information about trusts vs. foundations?
They seem quite similar, except that a foundation is a bit more like a company, it usually has a board of directors, but in some jurisdictions it can also be managed by a company.
With trusts there are revocable and irrevocable trusts, which is about if the settlor still has control over it. With a foundation, there is a similar concept regarding “effective control” - right?
The way I understand it, trusts are an Anglo-Saxon concept, so they are widely used in the US, UK, Singapore and many other countries. Other Central or Northern European countries don’t have the same concept and tax authorities are usually extremely skeptical of them. They might not even recognize the concept?
Foundations however are recognized all over the world. It is generally a good idea to choose a jurisdiction that doesn’t recognize foreign court rulings for better asset protection. So somebody suing the trust/foundation can’t just sue you in your home country and then use the court ruling to get the money from the entity in the other country.
When you still have control over the trust/foundation, tax authorities will usually ignore it and treat the funds as your personal property. They might not even recognize the entity at all if it’s located in an offshore jurisdiction. Ok, so that’s a risk. But what about asset protection? Would they still work for asset protection purposes?
Can someone give some more info?
Or to put it differently, why would anyone choose a Liechtenstein foundation when you can get the same thing with a Seychelles foundation or Nevis trust?
They seem quite similar, except that a foundation is a bit more like a company, it usually has a board of directors, but in some jurisdictions it can also be managed by a company.
With trusts there are revocable and irrevocable trusts, which is about if the settlor still has control over it. With a foundation, there is a similar concept regarding “effective control” - right?
The way I understand it, trusts are an Anglo-Saxon concept, so they are widely used in the US, UK, Singapore and many other countries. Other Central or Northern European countries don’t have the same concept and tax authorities are usually extremely skeptical of them. They might not even recognize the concept?
Foundations however are recognized all over the world. It is generally a good idea to choose a jurisdiction that doesn’t recognize foreign court rulings for better asset protection. So somebody suing the trust/foundation can’t just sue you in your home country and then use the court ruling to get the money from the entity in the other country.
When you still have control over the trust/foundation, tax authorities will usually ignore it and treat the funds as your personal property. They might not even recognize the entity at all if it’s located in an offshore jurisdiction. Ok, so that’s a risk. But what about asset protection? Would they still work for asset protection purposes?
Can someone give some more info?
Or to put it differently, why would anyone choose a Liechtenstein foundation when you can get the same thing with a Seychelles foundation or Nevis trust?
