Protection of the Trusts Interests in BVI
The competitiveness of BVI’s trust legislation was greatly enhanced by adoption of the Trustee (Amendment) Act 1993 enabled to offer attractive environment for the formation and operation of trusts. It enabled a number of features including flexibility of planning, protection of privacy, wealth, assets and inheritance wishes, and tax exemptions.In practice that gives several advantages, i.e. protection of wealth benefits through the option of election of BVI as the proper law of the trust; protection of inheritance wishes through anti-forced heirship provisions; protection of trust interests through legal acknowledgment of the position and powers of the trust protector; and protection of privacy. There is no public register of trusts.
BVI’s trust legislation is based on the English common law system, and the BVI High Court follows English case law even when this is not technically binding, except where this specifically varies from local legislation on case law. It includes extensive trust administration provisions, broad investment powers for trustees, provision of a perpetuity period of 100 years and "wait-and-see" rules.
The legislation provides for the drafting of trusts to meet a wide range of client requirements, including revocable and non-revocable trusts, short-form or long-form trust deeds, full discretionary or fixed interest settlements, accumulation and maintenance settlements for minors, charities and protective trusts to remove future creditor risks.
