Estate Planning

Jesmond Mizzi Financial Advisors Limited (JMFA) is authorised by the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) to offer a professional Trustee Service in terms of Malta’s “Trusts and Trustees Act” (TTA) 2004.  Jesmond Mizzi Financial Advisors Limited acts as a Trustee for various private trusts in order for persons to have their minds at rest that ownership of their estate (or parts of it) is transferred to safe hands and managed correctly in the interests of the beneficiaries by qualified professionals.

A Trustee is defined by Article 2 of the TTA as “the persons or persons holding or in whom the property is vested on terms of trust in accordance with the TTA or otherwise deemed to be a trustee under the TTA”. The trust property is segregated from the trustee’s personal property - personal creditors of the trustee have no recourse against the trust property. The Trustee is limited by the powers conferred to him in the trust instrument or the law and must perform his duties within those specific given powers only.

Ultimately, the Trustee must always act in good faith to serve and protect the interests of the beneficiary. Without a beneficiary there can be no Trust.  A beneficiary is defined in Article 9.9 of the TTA as “.... a person entitled to benefit under a trust or in whose favour a discretion to distribute property held in trust may be exercised.”

Tax is charged on the basis of the residence and domicile of the beneficiary. If the beneficiary is a Maltese resident, then the creation and employment of a local trust will not grant any tax incentive to such residents. However, when the beneficiaries are not Maltese residents, Maltese fiscal legislation does not require the trustee to pay tax in Malta and as a result beneficiaries will not suffer tax twice. If on the other hand tax is paid at source, then the double taxation treaties to which Malta has ratified shall continue to apply as though the beneficiaries where the direct tax payers.

Jesmond Mizzi Financial Advisors Limited offers its clients an entire array of services in relation to trusts which extend beyond trusteeship. Services include drafting of the Trust instrument (whereby other entities may be nominated as trustees), company formation, company and Trust registration, ongoing trust administration, directorship and company secretarial services.