Privacy – Trusts may be created purely for privacy. For example the terms of a will are public but the terms of a trust are not. Also very popular is to have a Trust as the ultimate holding arrangement in a corporate structure instead of nominees and bearer shares because as well as providing increased privacy the assets are more secure with a trustee than with a simple nominee. Trusts are generally seen as being more respectable than bearer shares and in any case bearer shares are no longer allowed in Seychelles following the amendments of the 16th December 2013.
Spendthrift Protection – Trusts may be used to protect beneficiaries (for example your children even after they become adults) against their own inability to handle money.
Estate Planning – Trusts can be used instead of wills to administer a deceased’s estate.
Charities – In some common law jurisdictions all charities must take the form of trusts.
Unit Trusts – The trust has proved to be such a flexible concept that it has proved capable of working as an investment vehicle: the unit trust.
Pension Plans – Pension plans are often set up as a trust, with the employer as settlor, and the employees and their dependents as beneficiaries.
Remuneration Trusts – These are trusts for the benefit of directors and employees or companies or their families or dependents.
“Asset Protection” – The idea is for a person or a business to be completely separated from certain assets, with the intention that future creditors will not be able to attack those assets.
Tax Planning – Trusts are used for legal tax reduction or avoidance. The tax consequences of a transaction routed through a trust are usually different from the tax consequences of another route. In some cases, the tax consequences of using the trust are better than the alternatives.
Co-ownership – Ownership of property by more than one person can be arranged as a trust. For example ownership of the family home can have both partners as beneficiaries , with one, or both, owning the legal title as trustee.