Trusts and Divorce

‘Clients whose cases fall into this category [of offshore trusts] do need to be reminded by their advisers that these sophisticated offshore structures are very familiar nowadays to the judiciary who have to try them. They neither impress, intimidate, nor fool anyone. The courts have lived with them for years. If clients “duck and weave” over months or years to avoid coming clean they cannot expect much sympathy when it comes to the question of paying the costs of the enquiry which inevitably follows.’

So said Mr Justice Coleridge in the reported case of J v V (disclosure: offshore corporations).

Indeed, as the use of offshore trusts has become more common – the UK family courts are clear that fuller and franker disclosure of information is required – as ‘otherwise skulduggery is instantly presumed’

Trusts within financial proceedings

The existence of offshore trusts in a divorce will inevitably add to its potential complication.

It is  important to identify these assets at an early stage.

The basic principles of how a case is dealt with are the same. These are to first of all establish the values of assets and how they can be utilised to meet the needs of the parties. Once it is understood how all investments work the negotiation can begin.