TRUSTS involve legal documentation of titanic proportions, reams of cash, a healthy stock portfolio and five houses - preferably one in the Bahamas - before you can even think about them, right? Almost.
Enter one slightly less tricky trust with none of the tax exemption benefits, unfortunately, but a lot of other things going for it, not the least being that the average middle-income Hong Kong family can afford to consider one.
It is called the short-form revocable trust, a brainchild of the Bank of Bermuda, which has a healthy track record where trusts are concerned. In fact, it is the largest trust bank in the Asia-Pacific region.
'This isn't a product for wealthy people,' explained the bank's director of private trusts for Bermuda Trust (HK), Twinkie Lau.
'It's more suitable for young parents, for example, who want to be sure that, should anything happen to them, their children will be taken care of.
'People with disabled children, although they don't like to talk about it, are also attracted to this trust for that very reason - peace of mind.' One of the problems with wealth today is that it is rarely simple. Rather than have assets tied up in home and bank, families tend to have more diversified, cross-border portfolios. In the event of a death, assets can often be tied up for months while executors sort them out - a process that can be quite traumatic.
You do not have to be rich but it still helps to have a few assets handy. Ms Lau recommends assets of US$500,000 and upwards. The name of the trust more or less sums it up, as she explained.
