How It Works
From First Call to Fully Protected
Most structures are designed, signed, and funded in about four to eight weeks. Here's what happens at each stage.
- 1
Week 1
Confidential consultation
We discuss your assets, liabilities, profession, family, and goals. You'll learn whether a foreign trust, a domestic structure, or a combination fits, and you'll receive a clear, upfront quote.
- 2
Weeks 1–2
Solvency & risk review
We prepare a detailed balance sheet and solvency analysis, confirm there are no pending or threatened claims, and decide which assets go into the structure and which stay outside it.
- 3
Weeks 2–3
Design
We recommend a jurisdiction and licensed trustee, select a trust protector, and design the trust and LLC layers, including the duress procedures that govern what happens when a threat appears.
- 4
Weeks 3–5
Trustee onboarding & drafting
The foreign trustee completes its due diligence. We draft the trust deed, LLC documents, and transfer documents and review every one with you before signing.
- 5
Weeks 5–8
Funding
Accounts are opened or re-titled in the LLC's name and assets are transferred. Each transfer is documented to support the plan's defensibility.
- 6
Every year
Ongoing compliance
Annual reviews, trustee coordination, adjustments for life changes, and the Forms 3520, 3520-A, FBAR, and 8938 that keep the structure fully reported.
The Structure
What you end up with, and how it responds when a threat appears.
1 · You
Settlor & Beneficiary
You create the trust, transfer assets you can afford to set aside, and remain a beneficiary, along with your family if you choose.
2 · The Trust
Foreign Trust
Governed by the law of a jurisdiction such as the Cook Islands, with a licensed, independent trustee there and a U.S. trust protector watching over it.
3 · The LLC
Holding Company
The trust owns an LLC that holds the investment accounts. The trustee manages it and can take recommendations from an investment advisor you name.
When a lawsuit or threat appears
Because the foreign trustee already holds and manages the assets, there is nothing for you to hand over and no last-minute transfer for a court to stop. Under the trust's duress terms, the trustee will refuse instructions given under court compulsion. A creditor would have to start a new case in the trust's home country, under that country's law and deadlines. That is a slow, expensive, uncertain fight, and it often brings the creditor to a reasonable settlement.
What We Won't Do
A plan is only as strong as its integrity. We do not help anyone hide assets, mislead a court, or avoid an existing creditor or tax obligation. We won't transfer assets that would leave you unable to pay foreseeable debts, and we won't make you the trustee or protector of your own trust. Those are exactly the mistakes that have sunk foreign trusts in U.S. courts. Saying no to them is what makes an Ironvale plan defensible.
If a claim is already pending, Alex will tell you honestly what is and isn't still possible.
The Best Time to Protect Your Wealth Is Before Anyone Comes After It
Request a confidential consultation. We'll review your exposure and tell you plainly whether a foreign asset protection trust makes sense for you.