Nobody wants to think about a marriage not working out before the ceremony even takes place. But one must consider the real possibility that all marriages are not a “together forever” bond. This is especially important if the individuals in the relationship have significantly high wealth or net worth individually. Often times this wealth comes, in large part, from the individual’s family fortune which is at risk should the marriage end in divorce.
You may be wondering why a regular prenup isn’t as good as an offshore trust since the legal agreement has long been used to protect assets acquired by individuals before entering into a marriage. But a prenuptial agreement has many drawbacks that can make it loose its validity in court.
Your prenup can lose validity in a legal battle if your spouse claims any of the following:
- the agreement was signed under duress;
- the agreement was unreasonable;
- there wasn’t full disclosure provided by the other spouse;
- he/she was not given independent legal counsel.
Any one of these claims can make a costly and lengthy divorce process which does no good for either party involved.
Additionally, assets protected in a prenuptial agreement may be protected against any legal action taken against you by your spouse; but the prenup does not protect you against government imposed appropriation. Should there be any legal action taken against you by any other person or entity, all your assets are at risk.
By moving your assets to a Belize offshore trust, the assets will then be guarded by the rules set out in the trust agreement and would only be disbursed to the beneficiary named in said agreement. Should there be any legal action taken against you in your home country, the assets in the offshore trust will remain unaffected as the trust is governed by the laws of the country it was established. Therefore, your local government would have no say over the administration of those assets once they were placed in the offshore trust before any legal proceedings began.
If you feel that an offshore trust in Belize would be beneficial to you, contact the Belize offshore financial experts at ICS.
