Anguilla Trusts

Anguilla is a British overseas territory in the Caribbean, one of the most northernly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles.  The island`s capital is The Valley.   The new Trusts Act is the culmination of an extensive study of the trusts legislation of many other jurisdictions.  The existing trusts legislation was replaced with a New Ordinance.

The Trusts Ordinance, which has English trust law origins, provides a flexible framework.  The Ordinance allows trusts for commercial or charitable purposes, unit trusts, spendthrift trusts, asset protection trusts and variant trusts.  Variant trusts allow the settlor to create a type of trust that is accepted by the laws of his religion or nationality or one that is commonly used by his community.

The Ordinance provides for a protector of the trust who may be the trustee.  The protector may be given the power to remove the trustee and to appoint new or additional trustees.
The Rule against Pepetuities has been abolished and the accumulation of income during the entire term is possible.

The Fraudulent Dispositions Ordinance provides that a fraudulent disposition is voidable by a creditor if the settlor was insolvent at the time of the disposition or became so as a result thereof and if the creditor starts his actions within three years of the date that the assets were settled into the trust.  The burden of proving that the settlor was or became insolvent as a result of the transfer is on the creditor.

Anguilla has taken a more conservative approach than other jurisdictions regarding asset protection trusts.

When a trust is created under the laws of Anguilla, the Court will not change it, set it aside or recognize the validity of any claim against the trust property pursuant to the law of another jurisdiction or the Order of another Court regarding:

1. Marriage or its dissolution
2. Succession rights
3. Claims of creditors in an insolvency
4. Imposition of foreign tax or duty