Offshore Trusts for Real Estate in 2025: Are They Still Enough?

If your clients hold real estate through offshore trusts, here’s a question worth asking: Are they still doing the job?

Because for years, these structures were the default answer—simple, tested, and widely accepted as the gold standard for asset protection.

But as we enter 2025, a quiet shift is taking place among top advisors and wealth planners.

Increased global reporting. Tightening tax enforcement. Shifting cross-border rules.

And above all, rising client expectations for privacy, control, and tax efficiency—without complexity.

In this changing landscape, more professionals are re-examining whether offshore trusts alone still provide the protection, confidentiality, and flexibility today’s clients demand—especially for real estate portfolios spanning multiple jurisdictions.

Let’s take a closer look at what’s driving this shift—and what smarter advisors are turning to instead.

The Traditional Toolbox: Trusts and Companies

Offshore Trusts

For decades, jurisdictions like the Cook Islands and Nevis have provided robust trust legislation that protects assets from creditor claims, political risk, and legal disputes.

At their best, offshore trusts offer:

• Strong legal firewalls – often with 1–2 year lookback periods.

• Privacy and separation of ownership, shielding the settlor’s direct link to the asset.

• Intergenerational continuity without probate or forced heirship complications.

But they also come with:

• Reporting burdens (e.g., Forms 3520 and 3520-A for US persons).

• Dependency on trustees—which may limit real-time control.

Offshore Companies

Offshore IBCs or LLCs (e.g., from Anguilla or Nevis) offer privacy, operational agility, and some level of creditor protection.

These are often used by clients who:

• Prefer hands-on control.

• Value operational flexibility for active property management.

However, on their own, companies offer moderate protection, and in many jurisdictions, they still fall under CRS disclosure regimes.

The Hybrid Approach: Layering Trusts + Companies

For more sophisticated structuring, it’s common to see an offshore trust own an offshore company, which in turn holds the real estate asset.

This layered model:

• Adds distance between owner and asset.

• Increases legal complexity for claimants.

• Provides better succession and control planning when designed properly.

But again, with rising compliance demands, some clients are seeking alternatives that offer stronger confidentiality, greater tax efficiency, and more control—without compromising on legal soundness.

What’s Missing: True Control, Tax Efficiency, and Confidentiality

Here's the uncomfortable truth:
Today’s UHNW clients are no longer satisfied with structures that merely protect.

They want solutions that also preserve privacy, minimize tax leakage, and retain control—even as global reporting rules tighten.

That’s where private placement life insurance (PPLI) comes into the picture.

When structured correctly, PPLI can:

• Hold real estate via LLCs, trusts, or directly—while offering a life insurance wrapper that removes asset growth from the taxable estate.

• Eliminate capital gains, estate duties, and reporting burdens, especially when structured under zero-surrender-value policies.

• Allow client-retained control through carefully drafted Power of Attorney provisions.

• Deliver multi-generational continuity without triggering forced distributions.

And unlike most offshore trusts, certain PPLI structures require only a single-line CRS disclosure—sometimes even less, depending on the jurisdiction and configuration.

Comparing the Structures at a Glance

The Bigger Picture: From Defense to Strategy

Wealth structuring isn’t just about playing defense anymore. It’s about anticipating change—before it becomes urgent.

Yes, offshore trusts and companies still have their place.

But as transparency standards continue to rise, and estate taxes creep back into policy agendas, it's clear that many traditional solutions are reaching their limits.

For advisors, this is both a challenge and an opportunity.

Clients are more open than ever to next-generation tools—but only if we can present them with structures that are:

✔ Legally sound
✔ Tax efficient
✔ Compliant—yet discreet
✔ Seamless across jurisdictions
✔ And aligned with their desire to remain in control

Let’s Talk.

If your clients hold real estate through offshore structures, now is the time to ask the hard questions.

And if you're an advisor looking to stay ahead of shifting global rules—while protecting your reputation and your clients' wealth—I invite you to take the next step.

👉 Subscribe to download the white paper: Why UHNW Families Are Quietly Moving to PPLI

Learn how top family offices are using modern insurance-based structures to deliver more value, more confidentiality, and better outcomes for their clients.

Or if you're ready to explore whether this could work for your client cases,

👉 Book a private consultation.

We’ll map it out discreetly, legally—and in alignment with the structures you already manage.