Certain countries, notably civil and Muslim states, have laws under which surviving relatives of a deceased (e.g. his children) can claim a fixed share of his estate. In common with the laws of most other offshore centres, the BVI has also passed legislation expressly preventing “forced heirship” claims from being made against lifetime trusts.
Prior to 1 March 2004, the BVI’s statutory provisions outlawing forced heirship claims were also to be found in section 83 of the Trustee Act.
However, for a number of reasons, particularly when reviewed in the light of the relevant laws of certain other offshore trust jurisdictions, these provisions were not considered to have been sufficiently watertight. |
