Trusts Behind Closed Doors

In an article for STEP Journal, Alex Hall Taylor KC and Tyrone Bailey examine how recent amendments to the Civil Procedure Rules in the British Virgin Islands shape whether trust and estate proceedings are heard publicly or privately.

An original version of this article was first published in Issue 3, 2026 of the STEP Journal, June 2026.

In common with other offshore financial centres and jurisdictions, trust and estate disputes in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) frequently involve highly sensitive financial and confidential business information, personal medical information, internal family disputes, issues concerning the welfare of minors and private family arrangements. It is therefore unsurprising that a common practice has developed for confidentiality orders to be granted, provided that good reasons exist. The BVI court may, and frequently does, hear trust and estate disputes in private, anonymise the names of individuals associated with the dispute in its judgments or