Trust Services

Trusts are an ideal way to help you and your family manage and preserve your family wealth:

They protect the spendthrift, as some would see it, from their own shortcomings by placing the control and management of funds under an independent trustee with full authority to make decisions as to how and when such funds may be spent to provide benefits.
They can be used to assist the disabled by providing and/or enhancing their independence, well-being and financial security.
When it comes to estate settlement, trusts can help avoid the time, expense and publicity of probate.
Trusts can be used to transfer wealth efficiently from one generation to the next.
By “generation skipping” with funds going from, for instance, grandparents to grandchildren, trusts can help solve family inheritance issues.
Until Courts recognise pre-nuptial or post-nuptial agreements they do assist in protecting beneficiaries from some of the vagaries of the justice system.

What is an Asset Protection Trust?

All trusts provide asset protection. However, in some instances, trusts established in foreign jurisdictions or those that move their administration to such jurisdictions and adopt the local law as the governing law of a settlement, are subject to specific “Asset Protection Trust” legislation which seeks to assist the settlor and/or beneficiaries from third party claims. Such legal protection goes beyond that available to a trust which is subject to Irish law.

Asset Protection Planning - Strategic and Multi-Levelled

Asset protection is no longer a luxury; it is a must.

The world is becoming a lot smaller from a business and legislative perspective and asset protection is therefore becoming more important on a daily basis.

Lawsuits are filed today in unprecedented numbers against individuals, businesses and professional practices and indeed the average professional is likely to be sued or at least face a legal claim at least once in his or her career.

You do not need to be rich to be sued; especially if you are in a high-risk situation or business. Nor do you need to be sued to lose your assets – divorce, failed business ventures, economic instability and personal and business bankruptcy all pose a threat to asset security.

Asset preservation is strategic process involving multi-level planning. The importance of integrating asset protection and wealth management planning to fully protect and preserve your assets cannot be overstated. By itself, even the most sophisticated planning may not protect your wealth against the many unforeseen events and economic threats that exist today.

We consider integrating the wealth management and the use of family trusts can help you and your family mitigate such threats.

Trust Formation and Administration

The most common form of trust is where someone (known as the “Settlor”) makes a transfer of property during his lifetime (an “inter-vivos” gift) to another (known as a “Trustee”) upon whom there is a binding obligation to deal with the property over which he then has control (the “Trust Fund”), for the benefit of persons (the “Beneficiaries”) of whom he may also be one and which any of whom, may enforce the obligation(s) placed upon him.

Trusts take several forms and the nature of the trust varies depending on the needs of the client and the purpose behind setting up the trust. The types of trust available include, but are not limited to:

Discretionary
Fixed interest
Interest in possession
Accumulation and maintenance

Fulcrum has the experience and specialist knowledge to ensure that the trust structure is appropriately tailored to a specific client’s circumstances and required objectives.

We are able to provide :

assistance with initial trust establishment, in conjunction with discussions with the settlor
ongoing trustee services
ongoing administration services, including bookkeeping and accounting

Fulcrum undertakes ongoing monitoring and review of all trust arrangements to ensure that they remain appropriate in light of any changes in legislation.