Protect what you Have!

How to Set Up an Asset Protection Trust in India?

Protect Your Asset

An asset-protection trust is a term which covers a wide spectrum of legal structures. Such trusts are set up to avoid or mitigate the effects of creditors, divorce and bankruptcy on the beneficiary.

Objectives
  • You wish to prevent your hard-earned assets from being squandered by your spendthrift beneficiaries.
  • You wish to ensure that your creditors will not be able to lay a claim on some of your assets in the event you face financial difficulties or business risks
  • If you have stood as Guarantor for a Loan and the loan goes bad your personal assets can be attached to pay for the loan. Do you want to avoid such a situation?
  • You wish to protect some of your existing assets in the event your investment fails in a High-Risk Investment.
  • You do not wish your beneficiaries to be reckless in managing your hard-earned assets after you have passed away.
The Solution

Create an Asset Protection Trust with NexGen Estate Planning Solutions and you can be assured that your hard-earned assets will be protected from the abovementioned scenarios. An asset protection trust is a vehicle created to preserve wealth by insulating assets against unanticipated risks. The Settlor settles the trust beyond the reach of potential creditors thereby insulating assets which would otherwise be at risk.

You can use the trust route to avoid your children being taxed on income from their assets. Say, your son is a non-resident Indian; you form a trust and transfer all your wealth to it. Though India does not have inheritance tax, countries like the UK impose estate duty on transfer of taxable assets. The trust would reduce your son's tax liability, as the ownership of the property stays with the trust and your son is only a beneficiary.

Parents can also use the trust route to avoid their child parting with assets due to a bad marriage. The ownership of the asset lies with the trust, not the child - returns from the assets can be in the child's name. This ensures the child loses just a part of the returns, which is much lower than the value of the assets.

Also, with divorce cases on the rise, in many cases estate planners recommend that a a person forms a trust as soon as he/she files for divorce - the aim is to protect their wealth for their children, who are made beneficiaries.

Contact a NexGen Estate Planner to assist you on the proper ways to protect your hard-earned assets.

How an Asset Protection Trust Helps You?

  • The assets in the trust is creditor proof.
  • You can set the conditions in the trust to ensure your beneficiaries do not squander your hard-earned assets.
  • You can prevent your beneficiaries’ creditors from claiming your beneficiaries’ entitlement in the fund.
Core Elements:
  • The trust must be non-discretionary.
  • The Trust must be irrevocable.
  • The trust property may be acquired from an Indian or non-Indian.
  • The trust may be resident in India, although international jurisdictions with asset protection legislation provide greater protection.

How do I ensure my assets are protected?

Trust assets are protected in two ways:

Ownership of assets:

Assets transferred by the Settlor to a trust do not form part of the Settlor’s assets, provided that the Settlor is not the sole Trustee and does not control the Trustee’s actions.

Discretion of Trustee:

Only an irrevocable non-discretionary trust can be set up and the settlor cannot be a beneficiary. If the settlor is a beneficiary, the share of the trust's assets belonging to the settlor or beneficiary can be attached in case of bankruptcy. The beneficiaries need to be defined clearly in the trust deed.

A trust must have at least two trustees at a time. Most Indian families or private trusts have two members, usually a Corporate Trustee and a Family Member. A corporate trustee provides services such as managing the assets, handling legal and regulatory requirements and filing tax returns. It is advisable to have a corporate trustee as a professional and neutral party. The corporate trustee makes sure the wishes of the founder or settlor as per the trust deed are fulfilled.

Ensure you've done succession planning for the trustees as well, so that the trust can function seamlessly if a trustee passes away. That's why having a corporate trustee is preferred because they have a perpetual succession plan in place.

Estate Planning

The asset protection trust can also have estate-planning provisions. The legalese version of “when I die everything goes to my spouse” and “when we both die everything goes to the kids” can be part of the trust structure.

How to go about it?

Talk to a NexGen Estate Planner to set up an Asset Protection Trust to protect the assets you may leave behind for your children.

NexGen Estate Planning Solution has been helping Indians establish and manage trusts for many years. We have expertise in trust administration and can act as your trustee.

Call our team on 9599799018 or mail us on support@nexgentransfer.com

and we'll contact you for our " Asset Protection ".

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