If all one knew about offshore discretionary trusts was gleaned from the UK national newspapers one could be forgiven for assuming that their principal use was either tax avoidance or the concealment of assets in big ticket divorce cases. Perhaps unsurprisingly the reality is somewhat different.

Unlike domestic trusts, which usually tend to have fixed interests for specified beneficiaries, the trust of choice in the offshore centres, or international financial centres (IFCs) as they prefer to be called, is the fully discretionary trust.