Don’t Lose Control - Use a Private Trust Company

In a previous article I wrote about the need to plan against inheritance taxes. One way of doing this is to transfer assets into trust. Once there the assets no longer belong to you, they belong to the trustees, so generally would not attract any tax charge on your death because the legal owner doesn't change. And if you get into financial problems they are better protected and may still be enjoyed by your family rather than being swept up by your creditors.

An additional advantage is that on your death the need for a probate-the process which allows the assets to be released to your family - is avoided. A grant of probate takes time to obtain. Even if your estate is as straight forward as possible it is highly unlikely that a grant of probate in Hong Kong will be obtained in under 9 months. The typical estate of an Hong Kong investor comprised of a variety of different assets in a number of different countries would normally take at least 2 years to wind up and