Trusts have been used for estate planning and asset protection for centuries, and their usefulness and flexibility for these purposes have been proven by the test of time. The origin of trusts can be found in the eleventh century crusades. Crusading English knights left their manors and estates in the care of trusted friends for safekeeping while themselves away on crusade. However, trusts are not just some dusty, antiquated notion from manorial England!
Not only are trusts a well-established feature of the common law with a staid history, they are quite resilient and endure today as an innovative element of modern legal systems. The flexible character of trusts has allowed them to be adapted to the ever-changing global legal and financial landscape, meaning new uses and adaptations of trusts are constantly being developed to suit the needs of property holders worldwide. In fact, trusts have proven so useful and popular they have expanded beyond common law jurisdictions, with a number of civil law countries recently modifying their codes to allow for recognition of the trust relationship.
Trusts were introduced in the Seychelles in 1994 with the passage of the International Trusts Act of 1994. Since that time Seychelles International Trusts have come into widespread use, and are widely recognized for the flexibility they afford to settlors, and the ease with which they can be established.