Which Firms Help Expats Set Up Trusts and Foundations for Cross-Border Wealth Planning?

by Adam Fayed on October 12, 2026

Expats and high-net-worth families can establish trusts and foundations with support from fiduciary providers and specialist law firms, while international financial advisers can help incorporate these structures into wider cross-border wealth planning.

Fiduciary providers such as Trident Trust, Ocorian and ZEDRA offer trust, foundation and administration services, while international law firms including Ogier, Harneys and Conyers commonly advise on the legal structuring of trusts, foundations and other cross-border wealth arrangements.

Adam Fayed uses an international advisory model, helping eligible expats and high-net-worth clients consider how trusts, foundations and other structures may fit with their investments, retirement planning, succession objectives and wider cross-border financial arrangements.

The relevant choice will reflect where the individual and their assets are located, the jurisdictions involved, the purpose of the structure and whether legal, fiduciary, investment or broader financial planning support is required.

Providers are included for comparison, without implying a ranking or endorsement. Individuals should check the entity providing each service, its regulatory or professional status, fees, jurisdictional expertise and any legal or tax implications before proceeding.

Key Takeaways

Fiduciary firms establish and administer trusts and foundations, provide trustees, and handle compliance.
Law firms advise on legal structures, jurisdictions, succession and cross-border arrangements.
Wealth advisers align these structures with investments, tax planning and broader financial goals.
Provider selection should match the family's wealth complexity, legal needs and ongoing support requirements.

My contact details are hello@adamfayed.com and WhatsApp ‪+44-7393-450-837 if you have any questions.

The information in this article is for general guidance only. It does not constitute financial, legal, or tax advice, and is not a recommendation or solicitation to invest. Some facts may have changed since the time of writing. FIRMS THAT HELP EXPATS SET UP TRUSTS AND FOUNDATIONS

What do trust and foundation firms do for expats?

Trust and foundation firms help expats establish, structure and administer legal arrangements for holding assets, managing family wealth and transferring assets to beneficiaries.

Their services can extend beyond registration or document preparation.

Depending on the firm, clients may receive advice on the appropriate structure, professional trustees or foundation council members, ongoing administration, financial reporting and succession planning.

For expats, this support can be especially relevant when financial interests span several countries.

A person might live in Singapore, own a business in the UAE, hold investment accounts in the UK and have children living elsewhere.

Each connection can introduce different inheritance, tax, reporting and ownership considerations.

Who is the best person to help set up a trust?

A private wealth lawyer is often the appropriate starting point for legal structuring, while a professional trust company may be needed to act as trustee and administer the arrangement.

The best professional depends on the work involved.

Establishing a trust requires legal documentation and a clear understanding of the applicable trust law, but operating the structure may require a separate fiduciary provider.

Cross-border cases can also require advice from tax specialists in the countries where the settlor, beneficiaries and assets are connected.

Trust and estate planning lawyers

Trust lawyers advise on the legal structure, trust deed, trustee powers, beneficiary rights and succession implications.

They can assess whether the proposed arrangement works alongside local inheritance rules, existing wills and ownership arrangements.

For families with businesses, overseas property or beneficiaries in multiple countries, specialist private wealth lawyers can coordinate advice across jurisdictions.

Professional trustees and fiduciary companies

A professional trustee administers the trust in accordance with the trust deed and applicable law.

Depending on the arrangement, the trustee may manage assets, oversee distributions, maintain records and work with investment managers and other advisers.

For a foundation, the equivalent responsibilities may fall to its council members or other appointed officers.

Clients should confirm who will exercise decision-making powers and what responsibilities the firm accepts.

International wealth advisers

International wealth advisers help clients integrate succession structures with their wider financial plans.

This can include coordinating investment arrangements, retirement planning, asset allocation and discussions with legal and tax professionals.

However, a wealth adviser should not be assumed to provide legal establishment services or act as a trustee.

Those responsibilities require the appropriate expertise, authorization and service arrangements.

For many expats, the practical solution is a coordinated team: a lawyer for legal advice, a fiduciary firm for administration and a cross-border wealth adviser for the broader financial strategy.

Firms that help expats establish trusts and foundations

The firms available to expats differ in the role they play, the jurisdictions they cover and the services they can provide directly.

Adam Fayed and Q Group Asia focus on broader cross-border wealth planning and coordination, while Trident Trust, Ocorian and ZEDRA provide fiduciary services and Ogier, Harneys and Conyers bring specialist legal expertise.

These differences matter when deciding whether the immediate need is broader wealth planning, legal structuring, professional trusteeship or ongoing administration. More complex arrangements may involve providers from more than one category.

The firms below are included for comparison and are not ranked. Clients should verify the relevant entity, scope of service, jurisdictional coverage, regulatory or professional status and fees before proceeding.

1. Cross-Border Wealth Planning and Advisory Firms

Cross-border wealth advisers can help expats determine how a trust or foundation fits into a broader financial strategy and coordinate with the legal, tax and fiduciary professionals involved in implementation.

Adam Fayed

Adam Fayed provides international wealth planning for expats, including investment planning and coordination of cross-border financial arrangements.

For clients considering a trust or foundation, the starting point is the wider financial strategy and how the structure would interact with investments, succession plans, international assets, future relocation and longer-term wealth objectives.

Strength: The broader advisory model may be particularly relevant for expats who need more than the establishment of a trust or foundation. It allows the structure to be considered alongside the client's investment portfolio and wider international wealth plan, with specialist partners involved where legal, tax or fiduciary expertise is required.
Limitation: The model relies on specialist partners for some legal, tax and fiduciary functions, so clients may work with more than one provider when establishing and administering a trust or foundation.

Q Group Asia

Q Group Asia helps private clients, families and family offices coordinate cross-border wealth structuring, including estate planning, succession arrangements, foundations and holding structures.

Its network connects clients in Asia with related businesses and fiduciary capabilities in Switzerland and the Middle East.

Strength: Its focus on coordinating multiple parts of a wealth structure may suit expats who need to align succession planning, holding entities and fiduciary services across jurisdictions.
Limitation: Q Group Asia states that it does not hold a Singapore Capital Markets Services license and does not provide regulated financial advisory or fund management services. Clients should distinguish its coordination role from the services delivered by licensed group entities and confirm which entity will establish or administer the proposed structure.

2. International Trust and Fiduciary Companies

International trust and fiduciary companies provide services for establishing and administering trusts or foundations, including professional trusteeship and ongoing administration.

Trident Trust, Ocorian and ZEDRA offer overlapping services, but their jurisdictional coverage and available structures provide different points of comparison.

Trident Trust

Trident Trust provides trust and foundation services, professional trusteeship and administration for individuals, families and professional advisers.

Its capabilities include cross-border wealth structuring, compliance, accounting and reporting, with offices across jurisdictions including the Bahamas, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Jersey, Singapore, Switzerland and the UK.

Strength: Its presence across multiple financial centers may suit families whose assets, beneficiaries or succession arrangements involve several jurisdictions and require coordinated fiduciary support.
Limitation:
Trident Trust has faced regulatory enforcement concerning compliance controls in some jurisdictions, including Singapore and Guernsey. Prospective clients may want to review the regulatory record and current status of the specific Trident entity they would use.

Ocorian

Ocorian provides trust and foundation formation, trustee services, ongoing administration and succession planning, alongside reporting support for private clients and family offices.

Strength: Its broad institutional fiduciary infrastructure may appeal to families seeking professional trusteeship, administration, accounting and regulatory reporting from a large specialist provider.
Limitation: Ocorian does not provide tax advice, so international families requiring tax analysis alongside trust establishment will need to engage a separate tax adviser.

ZEDRA

ZEDRA offers trust and foundation formation, management and administration, covering arrangements such as discretionary trusts, reserved powers trusts, family foundations and succession planning foundations.

Strength: Its range of structures gives families options for balancing trustee authority, retained powers and long-term succession objectives. This may be useful when comparing different approaches to family wealth governance.
Limitation: ZEDRA was subject to GFSC enforcement action in 2024 over financial crime and beneficial ownership control failures relating to a single client file. Prospective clients considering Guernsey may wish to review the GFSC’s findings, the entity’s remediation, and its current licensing and regulatory status.

3. Specialist Legal and Fiduciary Groups

International law firms are particularly relevant when the structure involves complex succession rules, business ownership, multiple jurisdictions or potential legal disputes.

Their role is generally to advise on the legal framework and documentation, although some groups also have separate fiduciary businesses.

Ogier

Ogier provides offshore legal services through its law firm and fiduciary services through Ogier Global, covering trust and foundation structuring, succession planning and administration in jurisdictions including Jersey, Guernsey and the Cayman Islands.

Strength: Its combination of offshore legal expertise and related fiduciary capabilities gives families a way to coordinate legal structuring and ongoing administration within the same wider group.
Limitation: Clients whose main requirement is ongoing investment and broader financial planning may still need a separate wealth adviser, since Ogier's core proposition in this context is legal and fiduciary rather than portfolio-led financial advice.

Harneys

Harneys advises on offshore trusts, succession planning, dynasty trusts and philanthropic arrangements.

Strength: Its specialist expertise in BVI, Cayman and Cyprus law may be particularly valuable where the trust itself is governed by one of these jurisdictions or the family has substantial structures there.
Limitation: That jurisdictional specialization makes it less of a one-stop legal solution when a family's succession arrangements require substantial advice under the laws of countries outside its core jurisdictions.

Conyers

Conyers advises on trust establishment and restructuring, family business succession, dynastic estate planning and philanthropic foundations.

Strength: Its Bermuda, BVI and Cayman expertise is particularly relevant to business owners and wealthy families using those jurisdictions for trusts, family business succession or long-term estate planning.
Limitation: Its geographic legal focus is relatively concentrated. Families requiring substantial advice under several onshore legal systems will generally need local counsel alongside Conyers.

How to compare trust and foundation providers

Expats should compare providers based on cross-border tax and legal expertise, total costs, governance arrangements and regulatory standing.

The firm's services should match the family's circumstances, not simply its international reputation.

Jurisdictional and Tax Expertise

Confirm that the provider understands the laws governing the proposed trust or foundation and can account for the client's tax residence, asset locations and beneficiaries.

A structure permitted in one jurisdiction may receive different tax treatment elsewhere or conflict with local inheritance rules.

Ask which countries the firm can advise on directly and where independent legal or tax counsel will be needed.

Establishment Costs and Ongoing Fees

Request a written breakdown of the initial and recurring costs.

These may include formation and legal fees, trustee or foundation council charges, administration, accounting, reporting and asset transfers.

Also check minimum annual fees and charges for additional services.

A lower setup fee may not represent better value if ongoing administration is substantially more expensive.

Governance and Control

Understand who will make decisions, manage assets and authorize distributions under the proposed structure.

Depending on the arrangement, relevant parties may include the settlor or founder, trustee, foundation council, protector and beneficiaries.

Before signing, clarify which powers can be retained, how fiduciaries can be replaced and what happens if the founder becomes incapacitated or family circumstances change.

These terms affect both practical control and the structure's legal and tax treatment.

Regulatory Standing and Accountability

Verify the legal entity that will provide each service and check its relevant authorization or registration.

Legal advice, fiduciary administration and financial advice may fall under different regulatory frameworks.

Confirm who will hold or administer the assets, what reporting the client will receive and how complaints are handled.

The engagement should also identify responsibility for ongoing compliance and any services that must be provided by external specialists.

Finally, ask how the provider would handle a future relocation or a change in the family's circumstances.

Moving a structure to another jurisdiction may require legal amendments, tax analysis or a change of fiduciary, so portability should be assessed before establishment rather than assumed.

Conclusion

Cross-border wealth planning rarely fits neatly within one firm's remit.

A legal adviser may design the structure, a fiduciary company may administer it, and a wealth adviser may coordinate it with the family's wider financial arrangements.

The quality of that coordination can shape how smoothly the plan moves from legal documents to practical implementation.

For expats, the final choice should also consider compatibility, whether the adviser understands their circumstances, communicates clearly and is someone they can trust with decisions that may affect their wealth and family for years to come.

FAQs

Which is better, a foundation or a trust?

A trust is generally better suited to managing assets for beneficiaries, while a foundation is often more suitable when a separate legal entity with formal governance is preferred.

The best choice hinges on the applicable laws, tax treatment, succession goals and desired level of control.

What are the pitfalls of setting up a trust?

Common pitfalls include unexpected tax liabilities, unclear trust terms, high ongoing fees, reduced direct control over assets and disputes between trustees and beneficiaries.

Trusts also do not automatically protect assets from creditor claims or override applicable inheritance laws.

How much money is needed to establish a foundation?

Establishing a foundation may require initial capital of around US$10,000 to US$30,000, based on the jurisdiction, with Panama requiring US$10,000 and Liechtenstein requiring US$30,000.

Legal fees, registration and ongoing administration are additional costs, so the total budget will be higher.

When should you set up a trust?

A trust may be worth considering when planning a substantial inheritance, managing assets across countries, providing for dependents or preparing for family business succession.

Establishing it before a major relocation or transfer of wealth can allow time to assess the legal and tax consequences.

What is the purpose of setting up a foundation?

A foundation can hold and manage assets for family succession, long-term wealth management or philanthropic purposes, subject to the relevant jurisdiction's laws.

It provides a formal governance structure for managing assets according to its founding documents and defined objectives.

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