Everybody is about the new anti-money laundering and combating of terrorist financing measures introduced which affect trusts. It is interesting to watch how many advisers see an opportunity to by advising their clients to undo their trust structures, or out of complete ignorance themselves.
The accounting and fiduciary industry has a responsibility to give (or obtain) the best advice for their clients and not, in a knee-jerk reaction to the new measures, blindly deregister trusts.
Although, in some instances, estate planners were ill-advised to register trusts in the “old days”, trusts were generally registered as part of estate plans.
It takes a lot of effort to properly structure a trust and to effectively move assets into a trust
