A Jersey working party is in the process of considering further amendments to the island’s trust law, which will visit, amongst other subjects, the controversial issue of how robust Jersey trusts can be when challenged by the English matrimonial court. The working party, which consists of representatives of legal and trust professionals, along with representatives from Jersey’s government and Jersey Finance, plans to issue a new consultative document with proposed amendments within the next month or so. The most controversial of the changes that could be contained in a fifth amendment to the Trusts (Jersey) Law 1984, is a further change to the wording of last year’s Trusts Amendment to provide Jersey’s court with more explicit guidance regarding foreign challenges to trusts. This follows a series of cases in the English matrimonial courts that have scrutinised Jersey trusts, and which have seen the Jersey court giving effect to English court orders. “We had hoped the wording used would help the Jersey court to be tougher,” Steve Meiklejohn, a partner with Jersey law firm Ogier told WealthBriefing. “We’re looking to further amend it to make it tougher, but there is some nervousness on the part of the States [of Jersey] to change the law in order to ring-fence assets from the English matrimonial court.” Mr Meiklejohn said he expected the trusts industry in Jersey to approve of the proposed changes, although he added that both the Jersey government and local courts would need to be intimately involved in the consultation process because of the wider issues at stake, including the harmony of Jersey’s relationship with the mainland UK. “I don’t think we’re building up to a big dust-up,” he said. “It may be that, in discussions with our own court, we can come up with a tweak the court will be comfortable with.” The changes are being proposed following concerns from lawyers and wealth management professionals in the UK about recent court decisions on the island. Another issue that will be included in the consultation document is a clarification of indemnities owed to retired trustees, to enable them to follow the trust property for legitimate expenses. It is hoped that this will put an end to the current situation where retiring trustees have to wrangle over their deed of retirement. Jersey will also be seeking to clarify that trusts established on the island for non-charitable purposes can hold the shares of private trust companies. This follows similar moves in Guernsey and Dubai, and is part of the recent process aimed at making Jersey a more competitive jurisdiction. The working party will also be introducing a new definition for “charitable purposes” as the current term relies on a 17th century elucidation that is viewed as too archaic for contemporary purposes. The question remains whether this will be contained in amendment number five, or referred to more generic legislation by Jersey’s attorney general. Finally, the consultation document will also tackle the issue of beneficiaries’ right to information, particularly the knowledge that they have been named as a beneficiary in the first place. “The settlor may not want minor children to know they are a beneficiary, perhaps intending to have them informed later in life,” said Mr Meiklejohn. He added that he expected this would prompt considerably more debate in the island’s wealth management community than some of the other issues. The further revisions to Jersey’s trusts law come as part of a strategic programme by the island’s financial sector to make it as competitive as possible, and retain its leadership position in the increasingly competitive offshore industry. Prior to the amendments which passed into law last year, Jersey’s trust legislation had not been revised since 1991. Mr Meiklejohn said he expected draft legislation to be put before the States of Jersey in the autumn, and to be signed off by the UK Privy Council early next year.