Trust services

Dixon Wilson offers a full range of services for trusts.  We maintain two offshore trust companies for the exclusive use of the firm's clients incorporated in Jersey and the British Virgin Islands.  In addition to our work in relation to annual accounts, we also provide assurance serives and can assist with the more regular preparation of financial data.  We work closely with the trustees to help them meet their beneficiaries’ needs and, on occasion, act as professional trustees.

Some of the services we offer include:

• providing corporate offshore trustee services
• changes in beneficial interest and their dissolutions
• providing accounting services by chartered accountants specifically trained and skilled in this specialised area 
• advising on the taxation consequences of the trustees’ investment policy adopted
• assisting with the appointment of independent investment advisers 
• acting as corporate trustee
• advising on all matters concerning the formation of trusts, their operation, the rights of the parties interested in the trust assets and dissolution
• assisting with the annual tax cycle including the preparation of self assessment forms
• providing proactive tax advice including pre-year-end planning and identifying opportunities as appropriate
• advising on all inheritance tax (IHT) matters and preparation of IHT returns
• a range of assurance services including reporting on the annual accounts and reviewing the financial reporting received by investment managers and other agents
• assisting trustees in complying with their obligations, particularly under the Trustee Act 2000
• assisting in the resolution of disputes between trustees and beneficiaries

Trustee services

A key objective is to assist clients to protect their assets through the use of trusts.  Our London-based partners often act as professional trustees.  This can be done in a personal capacity or through the use of an offshore trust company.

The trust companies provide a confidential personal service which combines a high level of technical tax and trust expertise with practical experience of handling the sensitive issues which arise from time to time.

The formation of an offshore trust will normally offer the following advantages:

• the flexibility to assist with taxation planning on an international scale
• the ability to hold geographically diverse assets in a single stable structure 
• a means to hold assets away from the country of residence of the settlor
• a means of providing political protection of assets in future
• the knowledge that assets will devolve in accordance with the settlor’s wishes
• a structure which ensures continuity of management of assets
• privacy and security
• the possible future avoidance of exchange or other monetary controls