Private Client & Offshore Trusts Lawyers

Our experienced offshore trust and private client lawyers specialise in providing tailored solutions to safeguard wealth and ensure confidentiality. With a deep understanding of international and offshore trust law, we offer comprehensive services to high-net-worth individuals, families, fiduciary companies and other corporations seeking to optimise their asset protection strategies.

From establishing offshore trusts and foundations to navigating complex tax structures, our team of offshore trust lawyers provide meticulous guidance at every step. Trust in our expertise as a leading private client law firm to help navigate the intricate landscape of wealth management and to protect your interests effectively and across borders.

Offshore trust law

We advise on all aspects of offshore trust law, including the establishment, administration, restructuring and termination of private, charitable and commercial trusts and foundations. Our offshore trusts attorneys and lawyers act in a personal capacity as protector, enforcer and director (of private trust companies) for a number of discretionary trusts and are frequently instructed by blue-chip trust institutions.

With offices in more offshore jurisdictions than any other offshore law firm, Appleby’s global reach allows for a comprehensive approach to be taken by our trust and private client lawyers to ensure that clients receive tailored solutions backed by years of experience and expertise.

Recent praise of our Private Client & Trusts practice includes Chambers and Partners highlighting the fact that we “well regarded for our contentious and advisory trust work, including complex trust and foundation structuring, estate planning, and philanthropic ventures”.

Additionally, our trust litigation lawyers are adept at resolving disputes that may arise during the lifecycle of a trust, providing strategic counsel to protect a clients’ interests whether it be through alternative dispute resolution methods or through the courts.

Private Client & Trusts Services

  • Trust Dispute Resolution for Private Clients

    Our leading Trust Disputes team has been involved in most of the major trust-related cases in Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Guernsey, Isle of Man and Jersey.

  • Wealth Structuring

    With a distinct presence in the Caribbean offshore territories of Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands, together with our global network of offices in other key jurisdictions which includes the Crown Dependencies of Guernsey, the Isle of Man and Jersey, our team of offshore trust and private client lawyers provides advice on a wide range of trust and wealth structuring services.

Private client law firm

As private client and trust specialists, our multi-jurisdictional team is committed to delivering the best outcomes for our clients.

For individuals, families and their advisers, an offshore trust lawyer at Appleby can:

  • Provide counsel on international estate planning needs and offshore trust law
  • Help with difficult decisions when administering trusts
  • Assist in creating a family’s own trust company helping to build family unity, empower future generations, and bring efficiency to the administration of family trusts
  • Act for trustees, beneficiaries, settlors and protectors on all manner of claims

For businesses, an offshore trust lawyer at Appleby can:

  • Provide advice on the formation and administration of trusts and foundations for private wealth purposes
  • Offer advice on the formation and administration of commercial trusts and foundations, including those in connection with leasing and structured finance transactions

Our global presence enables us to provide comprehensive, multi-jurisdictional legal advice in the area of offshore trust law at the times most critical to our clients.

We have offices in ten highly regarded, well-regulated global locations and practise the laws of eight jurisdictions. These include the key offshore jurisdictions of Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Jersey, Mauritius, and the Seychelles, as well as the international financial centres of Hong Kong and Shanghai.

Wealth planning is an increasingly global matter and our Private Client & Trusts team are continually developing our services to offer clients choice, flexibility and practical solutions. We advise clients on how to achieve the most effective solution to fit their objectives, including guiding them to the most suitable jurisdiction. The team also works closely with lawyers from our other practice areas, including Dispute Resolution for the contentious aspects of trust work.

More news
Appleby-Website-Private-Client-and-Trusts-Practice
22 Apr 2026

Regulation, Regulation, Regulation

The article discusses updates to global trust guidance and regulation, as well as beneficial ownership and the regulatory burden on trustees that comes with increased transparency.

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15 Apr 2026

Purpose trusts: Bermuda’s answer to modern asset structuring

Purpose trusts represent a notable development in modern trust law, particularly within offshore financial jurisdictions such as Bermuda. Unlike traditional private trusts, which are established for the benefit of identifiable beneficiaries, purpose trusts are created to achieve specific objectives or purposes. Historically, common law jurisdictions were reluctant to recognise such arrangements due to the absence of beneficiaries capable of enforcing the trust. However, legislative reforms in Bermuda have significantly expanded the scope of trust law by expressly validating noncharitable purpose trusts. Through the enactment of the Trusts (Special Provisions) Act 1989 (‘the 1989 Act’), Bermuda introduced a statutory framework that allows trusts to exist for defined purposes, provided certain legal requirements are satisfied. This innovation has made Bermuda a leading jurisdiction for the establishment of purpose trusts, particularly in the fields of international finance, corporate structuring and private wealth management. This article examines the legal foundations of purpose trusts under Bermuda law, focusing on their historical development, statutory framework, requirements for validity, enforcement mechanisms and practical applications.

Trust Disputes
15 Apr 2026

Manx Court blesses a Trustee decision to retain funds for potential future liabilities

The judgment of C v D et al (judgment of 17 December 2025) in the Isle of Man provides trustees with the helpful confirmation that a trustee can seek the blessing of the Court of a decision to retain funds in circumstances where the trust faces potential future liabilities.

Appleby-Website-Private-Client-and-Trusts-Practice
30 Mar 2026

The X Trusts Decision – a Cayman Islands’ perspective

Appleby's Cayman Islands Trusts team takes a look at the X Trusts decision, confirming a wider role for trust protectors.