Nevis Exempt Trust

The Nevis exempt trust (NIETO) is highly regarded among informed practitioners for use in asset protection and estate planning. It offers a way of maintaining direct control over your assets, anonymously, in a jurisdiction with strong privacy laws.

The NIETO can be created with a single trustee, and the settler or trustee can also be the beneficiary. Since a trustee can be a Nevis offshore corporation (owned by you or Capital Conservator’s trust company), you need never in fact entrust your assets to somebody else.

When a trust is registered, only the name of the trust and the date of settlement are on record. No one can gain access to the trust register itself without permission from a court of written authorization form the trustee. If someone wants to seize the assets within the trust they cannot use a foreign judgement to do so. Instead they will have to start an action within Nevis and prior to starting that action pay a sizeable bond upfront to pay for any litigation costs.

Best of all the exempt trust is completely tax-free as long as the trust’s income is derived from outside of Nevis.

Formation

Settler and beneficiary must be non-residents and may be the same person
Trusts may be created with just one trustee who must be a Nevis offshore corporation or a licensed trust company. The trustee can also be named as the beneficiary
Protectors are allowed for and may be the same person as the settler and beneficiary of the trust
The proper law may be the law of Nevis or the law of another jurisdiction
Forced heirship rules are specifically excluded
Spendthrift and charitable trusts are permitted
The trust property must not include any land situated in Nevis or St. Kitts.
The trust must maintain a registered office in Nevis

Taxes
The NIETO is exempt from:

all income, estate, inheritance, succession and gift tax
all stamp duty
all exchange controls

as long as the trust’s income does not come from Nevis.

Registration and Records
The Nevis International Exempt Trust Ordinance, 1994, governs registration of an international trust.
Registration Requirements:

A note of the name and registered office of the trust, and the date on which it was created. The name of a trust must be reserved and should not bear any resemblance to any offshore entity in Nevis.
The Trust document does not have to be filed on the creation of the Trust.
The Trust is not audited, although it is necessary to keep financial records.

Protection against seizure

Nevis exempt trusts are independent of foreign laws. No trust or property held within it can be declared void or liable to be set aside, because a) the laws of a foreign jurisdiction prohibit or do not recognize the trust, or b) the trust is in conflict with the law of another jurisdiction.
Foreign judgements are not recognized if they are inconsistent with the Nevis International Exempt Trust Ordinance, or if the judgement relates to a matter that is governed by the Laws of St. Christopher and Nevis.
Before starting an action against a debtor in Nevis a creditor must pay a US$25,000 bond to cover legal charges. In cases of fraud the creditor must prove the intent of the debtor to defraud with clear and convincing evidence.
It is possible to appoint a protector, who can monitor the actions of trustees. The protector can be the same person as the settler or beneficiary. The powers conferred on the protector are determined by the trust document. This is an important mechanism to ensure control over the trust if you decide to engage as trustee an unknown trustee or trustee company.

Privacy
The confidentiality and privacy of an International Trust are ensured by legislation in Nevis.

After trust formation, there is no registration requirement other than for the trust's name, the name of the trustee and the registered office address. Only the trust’s name and date of settlement are thereafter held on government record.
The Trust register is not a public document and can only be inspected if a trustee of a specific trust gives written authorization to a person allowing the inspection of the entry of that trust on the register.
Any non-criminal judicial proceedings in relation to the Trust must be heard in private and no details whatsoever can be published without leave of the court.

Nevis trusts start at US$5000.00. The total costs depends upon the services required and the complexity of the trust.

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