The trust is a concept recognised in many parts of the globe with many countries either having their own trust laws or having ratified the Hague Convention. As such, settlors have a wide range of jurisdictions from which to choose when considering
- under which law they would like to create a trust,
- where they want the trust to be administered and
- which country's courts they want to hear any potential dispute relating to the trust.
Moreover, not being able to see into the future, settlors should be advised to make provision in the trust instrument, should the need arise (which may well be the case given the long potentially perpetual, life of a trust) to change the proper law of the trust, place of administration and courts with jurisdiction to hear disputes. This paper is a summary of relevant considerations in both selecting and changing the proper law, place of administration or exclusive jurisdiction.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.