Estate Planning
Trust Planning for Expats
Safeguard your assets and protect your wealth across generations with bespoke trust planning designed for expats. Credible Life advises on the right trust structure for your cross-border circumstances.
Protect Your Wealth With the Right Trust Structure
A trust is a legal arrangement where assets are held by trustees for the benefit of beneficiaries. For expats, trusts offer powerful benefits — from reducing inheritance tax and protecting assets from creditors, to controlling how and when beneficiaries receive wealth.
The right trust structure depends entirely on your individual circumstances — where you live, where your assets are held, your family situation, and your long-term goals. Independent specialist advice is essential to get this right.
Credible Life advises expat clients on a range of trust structures, working alongside specialist trust lawyers to ensure every arrangement is legally sound, tax-efficient, and aligned with your estate planning goals.
What We Cover
- ✓ Discretionary trust planning
- ✓ Life insurance trusts
- ✓ Offshore trust structures for expats
- ✓ Asset protection trusts
- ✓ Family investment company advice
- ✓ Charitable trusts and giving
- ✓ Trustee selection and management advice
Trust Structures We Advise On
Discretionary Trusts
The most flexible trust type — trustees have discretion over when and how much beneficiaries receive. Highly effective for IHT planning as assets can be outside your estate after seven years, and for protecting wealth from future creditors or relationship breakdown.
Life Insurance Trusts
A life insurance policy written in trust pays out directly to beneficiaries outside of your estate — providing liquidity to pay IHT bills, replace lost income, or simply pass wealth to loved ones without any delay or probate complications.
Offshore Trust Structures
For expats with assets across multiple jurisdictions, offshore trusts established in well-regulated centres can offer significant tax and asset protection benefits — particularly for those with complex cross-border family arrangements and international assets.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a trust?
Not everyone does. A trust makes most sense when your estate is large enough to attract significant IHT, when you want to protect assets from creditors or disputes, when you need to control how beneficiaries receive wealth, or when you have complex cross-border circumstances.
How much does it cost to set up a trust?
Costs vary depending on the type of trust, the assets involved, and the jurisdictions concerned. We are transparent about all costs from the outset and only recommend a trust where the financial benefit clearly outweighs the cost of establishment and ongoing administration.
Can a trust avoid inheritance tax entirely?
In some cases, yes — particularly for assets held in trust for more than seven years before death. In other cases, a trust reduces rather than eliminates IHT. We assess the full IHT impact of any trust arrangement as part of our detailed advice to you.
Who should be my trustee?
Trustees must act in the best interests of beneficiaries and manage trust assets prudently. Common choices include family members, professional trustees, or trust companies. We advise on the most appropriate trustee structure for your specific situation and the jurisdictions involved.
Start Protecting Your Assets Today
Speak to a Credible Life estate planning adviser about trust structures suited to your cross-border circumstances. Fully independent guidance at every step of the process.