Trust Funds

 

Our Trust Funds

Traditionally, trusts are designed to protect family assets for current and future generations. However, our trust funds go above and beyond that, we focus our attention on three key areas:

1. Protection of business interests: We help you structure your income generating and non income generating assets in a manner that will help minimise risk and exposure to liability from lawsuits, creditors claims and divorce.

2. Protection of children’s welfare: This trust allows you to restrict your children from selling key family assets. entering into marriage with your assets and possibly losing them in a divorce, and portioning any large sums of cash in reasonable monthly allowances to avoid wasteful expenditure when you’ve passed on.

3. Maintaining Confidentiality: We structure our trust to keep family interests as private as possible. Unlike a will, its administration is largely private- keeping family affairs away from the public eye.

Process

  • Make a Constitution

    This constitution will determine how the trust will work, how the children are to enjoy the assets, who is to manage the assets in the trust fund and what powers those people have. We will make this constitution in line with both your goals and best practice.

  • Register the Trust

    The trust’s constitution, together with other supporting documents are to be filed with the Master of the High Court. This will be the official registration of your Trust. The entire process up to this point generally takes about two weeks.

  • Transfer assets to Trust

    Once registration is complete, you can then transfer properties, shares or other assets to the trust fund. You can also open a bank account for the trust. Please note transferring assets to a trust is a separate service altogether and is not included

Get Started

Ongoing support

Apart from setting up the Trust Fund, we provide ongoing support to make sure that your family and assets are protected even when you are no more. This includes:

  1. Quarterly audits on Assets: Every four months, we check on the physical condition of the assets and confirm their title at the deeds registry to make sure ownership is still under the family trust

  2. Quarterly audits on Bank Statements: We check on the trust’s bank accounts to make sure the Trustees (those who manage trust) are are using the funds for the best interest of your children.

  3. Beneficiary check-ins: We check in with the beneficiaries to make sure they are comfortable, and provide them with a contact to use when they are in trouble.

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Frequently Asked Questions

  • Each serves a different purpose, and in many cases they work best together.

    A Will sets out how your assets should be distributed after your death. It is gives your beneficiaries ownership over your assets, allowing them the power to sell and enjoy your assets as they see fit.

    A Trust Fund is designed for generational asset protection. It is particularly useful where wish to protect key family assets from divorce, creditors, or poor decision-making by beneficiaries.

    In practice, many people have both: a will to deal with smaller assets, funeral arrangements etc; and a trust fund to hold and protect key assets over the long term.

  • There are no inherent maintenance fees. However, for clients who require ongoing support to ensure the trust is properly administered and maintained, a maintenance fee may apply depending on the size and complexity of the trust fund. For more information, please feel free to contact us.

  • A trust offers strong asset protection, but in order to do so, it has to be restrictive. So, if you had included in your constitution that a particular asset cannot be sold no matter what, such will take effect no matter what financial constraints you may encounter in future.

    To remedy this, we draft your constitution such that it is restrictive but these restrictions can be relaxed where it is absolutely necessary to do so - such as for the relief and preventiom of poverty.

  • Trust Funds start from a once-off fee of P16,500. Payment may be made in monthly instalments, although instalment arrangements may result in a slight increase in the total fee. Please contact us for further information and a personalised quotation.

  • ou can place most types of assets into a trust, including:

    • Property (excluding mortgaged properties)

    • Cash and savings

    • Shares and investments

    • Business interests

    • Farms and agricultural assets

    • Vehicles

    • Jewellery, art, and other valuable items

    • Intellectual property and royalties

    Please note: Properties subject to a mortgage bond generally cannot be transferred into a trust without the lender's consent.

  • Trusts in Botswana are generally taxed as separate taxpayers. If the trust earns income, such as rental income, interest, or business income, it may be required to register with the Botswana Unified Revenue Service (BURS) and submit annual tax returns.

    The tax consequences will depend on:

    • The type of assets held by the trust

    • Whether the trust earns income

    • Whether assets are sold and capital gains arise

    • How income and benefits are distributed to beneficiaries

    A properly structured trust can be an effective estate planning tool, but it should not be created solely for tax purposes. Trusts are primarily used to protect assets, preserve family wealth, and ensure an orderly transfer of assets between generations.

    We recommend obtaining professional tax advice before transferring assets into a trust. We can assist with the legal aspects of establishing the trust and, where necessary, refer you to trusted tax professionals for specialised advice.

 

Interview with BTV

Leburu Legal was hosted by Botswana’s National Television to give the public a basic understanding of Trust Funds work in Botswana.