IQ EQ Trust Company, U.S. is a state chartered, non-depository trust company (NDTC) with operating offices in both New Hampshire and South Dakota.
We offer “directed” or “administrative” trustee services that provide families from all over the world access to the well-established advantages of New Hampshire’s and South Dakota’s trust laws. We can accommodate any trust governance structure to serve the particular strategic goals of our clients’ families.
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The combination of our unbundled services model, our industry expertise and our a la carte fee structure allows families to choose only the services they need, without disturbing existing relationships with financial managers and other trusted advisers.
The legal and regulatory infrastructure in New Hampshire and South Dakota provide enhanced opportunities for the movement, reformation and management of trusts. In particular, the trust laws provide:
Asset protection legislation
Asset protection legislation varies widely from state to state. Under New Hampshire and South Dakota law, families and their advisers can structure trusts to protect the assets they hold from the reach of creditors, divorce risks and the prying eyes of the public, press or potentially litigious beneficiaries. The states’ laws are advantageous on several respects, most notably with Self-Settled Asset Protection Trusts (APTs), bullet-proof discretionary and spendthrift trusts, and quiet trusts that can manage information flow from the trustee to problematic beneficiaries.
Tax benefits
New Hampshire and South Dakota do not impose state income or capital gains taxes on trusts. This means that trusts with New Hampshire or South Dakota situs pay lower taxes than trusts in other states, enabling the value of the trust for future beneficiaries to compound faster. In addition, the states have no state gift or intangible taxes.
Directed trust statutes
Directed trust laws allow a family to appoint a designated investment committee or an independent party to manage trust assets. As the Directed Trustee, we have legal ownership of the assets and take direction from the empowered “investment” advisers. This provides the freedom for family members and advisers to make sensitive decisions regarding trust assets. It also can present an opportunity to train and educate young family members about wealth stewardship.
Trust protector laws
The states’ trust codes allow an independent third party appointed by the trust document to be given powers that may include the ability to veto or approve proposed trustee actions, change the trust’s situs or modify some trust terms as the needs of future generations, tax status or governing laws change.
