Winding Up Guernsey Property Unit Trusts (GPUTS)

Although still a common vehicle for joint property-holding ventures, GPUTs reached a peak of popularity between 2003 and March 2006 because of their exclusion from the application of Stamp Duty Land Tax on UK property transfers. Many GPUTs, established for tax planning, are not expected to be particularly long-lived and will be wound up. As a Guernsey trust, a GPUT is regulated by the Trusts (Guernsey) Law, 2007 (the "Law"), but in reality there is very little stipulated in the Law in relation to the creation, operation or termination of a GPUT and it is the trust instrument which will govern its termination and the distribution of its assets. There is no public register of GPUTs.

Commencing the Termination