Give Yourself Peace of Mind
with a Cook Islands Trust

How does a Cook Islands Asset Protection Trust protect me?

A Cook Islands Asset Protection Trust is one of the most secure asset protection solutions in the world today. It can help keep your wealth and valuable assets out of the reach of potential lawsuits and creditors. This article explains what you need to know about using a Cook Islands trust to keep your hard-earned assets safe.

The Cook Islands’ legal system is very favorable toward individuals defending themselves in legal proceedings such as seizures and forfeitures, and it is widely considered to be among the most protective systems in the world. The offshore asset protection trust statutes on the Cook Islands are among the most formidable asset protection laws.

Even lawsuits or judgments originating from powerful countries like the United States will not be able to reach assets placed in trust there. To be protected by these statutes, however, assets must first be placed in a Cook Islands Asset Protection Trust. While your assets are in a trust, you can still retain beneficial ownership and can transact with them or request your trustee to transfer assets in or out of the trust.

If a US court orders that you must turn over your assets, you must comply to the point you are able to do so. Failure to comply with a court order is considered contempt of court and generally carries heavy penalties, including fines and incarceration.

However, since the assets are under the administration of a trustee outside the United States, a U.S, court’s jurisdiction does not reach a Cook Islands trustee. Thus, you will not have the ability to hand over any assets assigned to a Cook Islands Trust, which will defeat the purpose of the court order.

To demonstrate to the court that you are cooperating with a court order, you can instruct your trustee to obey and hand over the assets. However, because the laws of the Cook Islands prevent trustees from surrendering assets from a trust when the settlor (you) is under duress from a court order, the trustee must legally refuse to release the assets.

Advantages of a Cook Islands Offshore Trust

Here are some of the benefits of a Cook Islands Trust:

• You have protection for assets and investments, keeping them out of the reach of creditors, banks, or any court orders originating from outside the Cook Islands.
• There is a one or two year statute of limitations on all creditors that bring action against you or the trust.
• The Cook Islands do not charge taxes on assets held under a trust.
• The Cook Islands’ judicial system is considered “defendant friendly,” and there are several barriers to litigation already in place via the Cook Islands Asset Protection Trust Act.
• A Cook Islands Trust can protect assets even if they are not located within the islands, and you can transact with them electronically.
• Several types of trust arrangements are available, and trust deeds are not required  to be publicly registered.
• A flexible trust structure that creates several investment opportunities

Top Uses of a Cook Islands Trust

You can take advantage of a Cook Islands Trust to achieve the following:

• You can protect various types of liquid and tangible assets, such as intellectual property, investment portfolios, cryptocurrency, life insurance policies, and other types of financial assets.
• People in high-risk professions, such as business vendors, bankers, lawyers, doctors, and others, can use a Cook Islands Trust to protect their assets during an economic or political crisis.
• You can also use a trust for preserving wealth, sharing wealth among family members, estate planning, retirement planning, diversifying assets, reducing estate taxes, protecting against lawsuits, and holding stock options.

Structure of a Cook Islands Trust

The structure of a Cook Islands trust is simple and consists of four parties:

• Settlor: He/she is the person who creates a trust and places assets under it. That’s you.
• Trustee(s): The trustee is the person who holds the assets’ legal title and administers the trust. There can be more than one trustee for a trust. All trustees are legally bound to protect a settlor’s assets on behalf of the trust’s beneficiaries.
• Trust protector: He/she is responsible for appointing trustees and overseeing their activities. The settlor appoints the protector to supervise the trust and to ensure the trustees are acting in the settlor’s best interest. The protector may be an attorney, trust protector company, family member, or some other trustworthy person.
• Beneficiary: He/she is the person who benefits from the trust. For most Cook Islands Trusts, the beneficiary and the settlor are the same person. However, the settlor may add other individuals, such as family members or other loved ones, to the trust.

What can a Cook Islands Trust Protect?

There are various assets you can use a Cook Islands Trust to protect. That said, these trusts are most effective for protecting cash in a safe foreign bank account. Any funds on deposit with a U.S. bank can potentially be reached by the U.S. court system.

In order to take full advantage of the protections offered by a Cook Islands trust, it is best practice to deposit monies in a non-U.S. account, such as an account in Switzerland or Liechtenstein. Aside from cash in a foreign bank account, you can use a trust to protect:

• Stock market portfolios
• Investment portfolios
• Cryptocurrency
• Intellectual property
• Company stocks or shares
• Real estate
• Various other tangible and liquid assets

An asset does not need to be on the Cook Islands for it to be protected. That said, due to jurisdiction, judgments against real estate assets in the United States may not be fully protected.

Who can set up a Cook Islands Trust?

Provided the trust is established for legitimate reasons, almost anyone can set up a Cook Islands Trust. Our firm can help establish a comprehensive asset protection plan that fits your needs and offers dependable offshore asset protection.

Is a Cook Islands Trust Revocable or Irrevocable?

A Cook Islands Trust is irrevocable. However, with the trustee’s assistance, a settlor can amend or dissolve a trust. Being irrevocable is important for asset protection purposes. If the settlor has the authority to change the trust without the trustee, a judge could make the settlor change the trust’s terms for the court to access assets under the trust.

However, with the trustee’s cooperation being a prerequisite to change the terms of the trust, there’s a safety buffer for both the settlor and his/her assets.

Taxation of a Cook Islands Trust

The Cook Islands do not impose taxes on offshore trust assets. That means any assets held by a Cook Islands Trust will not give rise to gift tax, estate tax, income tax, capital gains tax, or any other local taxes imposed by the Cook Islands.

That makes the Islands a safe place to store assets without having to worry about taxes. It is important to note that transactions done in the Cook Islands or elsewhere could produce tax consequences in your home country. In most circumstances, a Cook Islands Trust is a tax neutral vehicle.

Statute of Limitations on Fraudulent Conveyance

Statute of limitations on fraudulent conveyance is what the law prescribes regarding how long a person has to bring legal action regarding a specific case. If the statute of limitations has passed, the plaintiff is generally barred from bringing his/her lawsuit.

Fraudulent conveyance means transferring assets with the deliberate intention of putting the assets beyond a creditor’s reach, especially when the creditor has a legal claim to the asset. That means after the statute of limitations passes, a creditor can no longer bring a case to legally seize a debtor’s assets.

When you transfer your assets to a Cook Islands trust, There is a two-year statute of limitations for a creditor to bring an action against you or the trust. The statute of limitations starts from the day of the cause of action. Cause of action is the fact or event that enables a person to bring a legal action.

Offshore Asset Protection After a Lawsuit

If a creditor manages to obtain a court order to seize trust assets before the statute of limitations expires, there are still several barriers in the Cook Islands’ legal and financial systems that could frustrate these attempts.

The first barrier is having to litigate in the distant Cook Islands. While the legal system in the United States makes it easy to file a lawsuit, and contingency fees mean plaintiffs can often sue others without paying a dime, the legal system in the Cook Islands is not so considerate toward plaintiffs.

Bringing a lawsuit in the Cook Islands is an expensive and lengthy process. Another barrier is the fact the legal burden lies on the person bringing the lawsuit to prove beyond a reasonable doubt assets were placed in a Cook Islands Trust with the objective to defraud.

In most cases, meeting this standard of proof is quite challenging considering there are multiple legitimate reasons to set up an offshore trust.

Case Law

As an established asset protection law firm, we’ve set up numerous asset protection trusts for clients. Moreover, as of the date this article was published, we have never seen any of our clients lose assets placed in a Cook Islands Trust. This is strong proof that protecting your assets under a Cook Islands Trust is safe. You can also confirm this yourself by researching available case law.

Cook Islands Trust Formation Cost

When forming a Cook Islands Trust, there are a number of items that add to the cost of trust formation, such as trustee expenses, bank account fees, brokerage fees, trust protector fees, IRS reporting requirements, and annual fees.

Taking this into account, an offshore asset protection trust usually costs between $25,000 and $50,000 to set up, plus the annual fees, which typically range from $5,000 to $10,000 per year. However, at Blake Harris Law, we have established longstanding relationships with our Cook Islands service providers that allow us room for negotiation on trust formation fees.

Accordingly, we can offer competitive pricing and affordable annual fees on a Cook Islands trust.

Contact us for a no-obligation consultation and trust formation pricing to suite your asset protection needs.

The formation of a Cook Islands trust involves multiple moving parts, contractual agreements, and parties. The best way to ensure your Cook Islands Trust is formed properly is to hire an experienced asset protection attorney who has reputable relationships with trusted companies in the Cook Islands, like Attorney Blake Harris.

The formation of a Cook Islands Trust has multiple moving parts, contractual agreements, and parties involved. The best way to ensure that your Cook Islands Trust is formed properly is to hire an experienced asset protection attorney who has reputable relationships with trust companies in the Cook Islands, like Attorney Blake Harris.

That being said, there are a number of documents and contracts required to establish a Cook Islands Trust, including the following:

• Passport or driver’s license: A copy of your certified passport or driver’s license is needed for identification purposes.
• Evidence of funds and banking reference letter: Cook Islands Trusts are generally set up by high-net-worth individuals who want to preserve their wealth and are in high-risk professions (e.g., doctors, bankers, lawyers, etc.). To form a Cook Islands Trust, the trustee requires evidence of funds and banking reference letters to assure the settlor has the funds and can transfer those funds to the trust when the time comes. The trustee will also want to see this proof of funds and conduct a financial background check to ensure the finances and structure of the trust do not violate regional trust laws and comply with international money laundering regulations.
• Proof address: The settlor will need to provide a proof address, which can be a recent original credit card or bank statement or a utility bill that shows evidence of the settlor’s physical address.
• Trust deed: A trust deed is a document that sets guidelines for the powers, responsibilities, and duties of the settlor, trustee, trust protector, beneficiaries, and other parties involved.
• Deed of indemnity: A deed of indemnity is a contract designed to protect the trustee from the risk of litigation and/or financial liabilities.
• Letter of wishes: A letter of wishes is not always necessary nor is it legally binding, but it serves an important purpose nonetheless. A letter of wishes is written by the settlor to the trustee to provide information (or wishes) beyond that outlined in the trust. It is up to the trustee to consider this document and act accordingly.
• Sworn affidavit of solvency or solvency certificate: A sworn affidavit of solvency is a signed document in which the settlor declares he/she can meet all financial obligations—existing and anticipated. Similarly, a solvency certificate may be required by the trustee of the settlor to show the financial stability of the settlor. These documents are generally required to protect the trustee and financial institutions.

In addition to the requirements of a Cook Islands Trust, there are structural aspects to the formation of the trust. There are four parties needed for the structure of the trust: settlor, trustee, trust protector, and beneficiary.

Common Problems When Setting Up a Cook Islands Trust

As a trusted asset protection law firm, the team at Blake Harris Law will help you navigate issues surrounding establishing a Cook Islands Trust. We have seen some of the following problems arise in the offshore asset protection industry.

• Reputable Trustees: A trustee can be a trusted individual, a lawyer, an accountant, a bank, or a professional trustee company in a foreign country. Reputable trustee companies have insurance policies with well-known insurance companies that make sure clients are covered should loss or negligence occur within these trustee companies. They also conduct “know your customer” (KYC) and “anti-money laundering” (AML), combating the financing of terrorism” (CFT) checks on settlors. A licensed trustee company must ensure sufficient documentation exists regarding the origin of the funds to be held in trust. When looking for a reputable offshore trustee company or other entity, it is important to understand its insurance policies, ensure it will conduct KYC and AML/CFT checks on settlors, and know its track record when it comes to satisfied clients.
• Retaining Control: Some settlors are not willing to relinquish control of their assets to a trustee, and this can create a problem. If a settlor does not relinquish control of his/her assets to a trustee, then the settlor’s assets could still be vulnerable to creditors and litigation.
• Failure to Report to IRS Filings and Federal Disclosures: If assets are placed in a Cook Islands Trust by a U.S. citizen or resident or a U.S. citizen or resident is the beneficiary of a trust, that does not mean those assets should not be reported to the IRS. The settlor and/or beneficiary has to report the assets (including inherited assets) held by a Cook Islands Trust. People who do not file with the IRS or report federal disclosures could find themselves with federal tax compliance issues.

Is the Cook Islands Trust the best offshore trust?

A Cook Islands trust is well regarded as the best offshore trust to shield assets from lawsuits, claims, and creditors. One of the biggest reasons a Cook Islands Trust is regarded as the best offshore trust is the trust jurisdiction. Cook Islands courts do not recognize foreign judgements.

If creditors seek to claim a settlor’s assets held by a Cook Islands Trust, those creditors have to file a lawsuit in the Cook Islands before the statute of limitation expires. They must then pay legal and court fees upfront and prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the assets were placed in a Cook Islands trust with the intent to defraud.

This entire process is lengthy and expensive; plus, the statute of limitations is only two years in the Cook Islands, which makes filing a lawsuit an urgent matter. Because of these factors, creditors will face significant hurdles if they attempt to breach a Cook Island Trust.

Besides Cook Islands Trust

In addition to a Cook Islands trust, at Blake Harris Law we offer several other offshore asset protection options, including an offshore asset protection trust, the Titanium Trust℠, and a Nevis LLC. An offshore asset protection trust is a trust formed under the laws of an offshore jurisdiction.

The management of such a trust is generally carried out overseas, and the trust assets are also deposited in an offshore jurisdiction. An offshore asset protection trust can protect a variety of different assets, such as business inventory and equipment, cash, cryptocurrency, intellectual property, real estate, recreational assets (e.g., private jets, cars, yachts), and securities.

People who seek an offshore asset protection trust at Blake Harris Law include business owners, real estate investors, medical professionals, and others who believe they may be at risk.

The Titanium Trust℠ is Blake Harris Law’s proprietary asset protection trust that takes a traditional domestic asset protection trust and offshore trust one step further. Like titanium metal—strong and lightweight—the Titanium Trust℠ has nearly bulletproof strength in that it protects your assets in the United States but with the advantage of being able to transfer assets offshore. A network of international trust companies, trust protectors, and bankers all work together to safeguard your assets.

Our clients who opt for the Titanium Trust℠ are usually people with higher incomes or six-figure saving accounts who wish to safeguard assets such as cash; securities; business interests; intellectual property; real estate; and various cryptocurrencies, tokens, and coins.

The Caribbean island of Nevis has become one of the world’s most favorable locations to establish limited liability companies (LLCs) for both privacy and asset protection. The country’s commitment to providing safe legal arrangements for overseas residents has been proven since the passage of the Nevis Business Corporation Ordinance in 1984. While establishing an offshore LLC sounds like a potentially long and arduous process, with the assistance of an asset protection lawyer, it is quite simple. At Blake Harris Law, our clients who seek a Nevis LLC are generally individuals who want to shield their assets from creditors and lawsuits. The benefits of privacy and discretion, minimal maintenance, a stable and business-friendly political environment, and an affordable price point has made the Nevis LLC a desirable offshore asset protection option.