Depending on how your trust will be operated, we may establish a Trust bank account. The signatories to the account will be TRUST officers (Directors of the Trustee Company) and you will have no direct access to the account. The Trustee is in control of the trust assets and is under a legal obligation to maintain the trust property in the best possible manner for the benefit of the members of the beneficial class. Depending upon client needs, a brokerage account and even a precious metals storage account may also be opened.
Some clients chose to combine an International Company with a Trust. In this arrangement, the Trust owns the Company, the Company owns a bank account and the signatory to the bank account is the client. Structured in this way the Trust bank account becomes optional. We recommended however to ALWAYS open a Trust account, even if only a small ($5,000-10,000) balance is maintained for several reasons:
- It takes time and effort to establish an account, and it is likely that it may become more difficult (or impossible) in the future.
- If you have an "Asset Protection Emergency", you can transfer funds from the Company to the Trust immediately.
- Diversification - Having assets in multiple locations is never a bad idea.
The Trust bank account opening is included in the first year Trustee Fees, so for many clients opening the account is an easy decision, but there are some Bank fees to consider such as a small account opening fee and then any monthly account maintenance fees.