Who is the beneficial owner of a discretionary trust?

Asked by: Angelica Runolfsdottir PhD  |  Last update: February 27, 2026
Score: 4.8/5 (5 votes)

In the case of a Discretionary Trust, the Trustee has legal control of the funds. Therefore, they are the legal owner. However, the funds are held and distributed to benefit the beneficiaries. The beneficiaries are the beneficial owners.

Who is the beneficiary of a discretionary trust?

A beneficiary of a discretionary trust can include both individuals and charities. Beneficiaries could include a class of people such as 'grandchildren'. Beneficiaries can also include people not born yet.

Who is considered the beneficial owner of a trust?

The term “beneficial owner” shall mean each individual, if any, who owns, either directly or indirectly, 25% or more of the equity interests of a legal entity customer.

Who owns the discretionary trust?

A discretionary trust addresses the relationship in which one person legally owns an asset for the benefit of another person or set of persons. The person who legally owns the asset is called the trustee, and the person or persons for whose benefit the asset is held is called a beneficiary.

What is a beneficial owner of a trust?

The concept of "beneficial ownership" can be found section 1 of the TPCA, and is defined, in respect of the provisions of a trust instrument, to mean: a natural person "… who directly or indirectly ultimately owns the relevant trust property"; or.

Difference between a Discretionary Trust vs Family Trust

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How to identify the beneficial owner of a trust?

A beneficial owner is an individual who ultimately owns or controls an entity such as a company, trust or partnership. 'Owns' in this case means owning 25% or more of the entity. This can be directly (such as through shareholdings) or indirectly (such as through another company's ownership or through a bank or broker).

Who counts as a beneficial owner?

In banking, the beneficial owners of a legal entity are those individuals who have a large equity interest or control over the entity's financials. Banks are required to collect this information in order to prevent money laundering.

Who is the ultimate beneficial owner of a discretionary trust?

In the case of a Discretionary Trust, the Trustee has legal control of the funds. Therefore, they are the legal owner. However, the funds are held and distributed to benefit the beneficiaries. The beneficiaries are the beneficial owners.

Who is the controlling person of a discretionary trust?

Discretionary trust

The trustees have complete control over the assets and the income they generate, deciding how and when to give them to the beneficiaries. ` People may set up this kind of trust for their grandchildren, making the grandchildren's parents trustees.

What are the downsides of a discretionary trust?

  • Beneficiaries left out may feel aggrieved.
  • Loss of control. The trustees can ignore the settlor's wishes.
  • Trusts can be costly to set up and run.
  • As with all trusts a discretionary trust needs to be properly administered.

Who is included in beneficial owner?

In March 2019, an Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) report defined beneficial owners as "always natural persons who ultimately own or control a legal entity or arrangement, such as a company, a trust, a foundation".

How do you report a trust as a beneficial owner?

For each beneficial owner or company applicant a company is required to report, the company must provide an identifying number from an acceptable identification document as well as an image of the identification document used to obtain this identifying number.

Who is exempt from beneficial ownership?

Yes, 23 types of entities are exempt from the beneficial ownership information reporting requirements. These entities include publicly traded companies meeting specified requirements, many nonprofits, certain regulated companies, and certain large operating companies.

Who is in charge of a discretionary trust?

A Discretionary Trust is a legal arrangement which allows the owner of a life policy (the settlor) to give their policy to a trusted group of people (the trustees), who look after it. At some time in the future they pass it on to some people from a group that the settlor has decided (the beneficiaries).

What happens to money in a discretionary trust?

Discretionary trusts are sometimes set up to put assets aside for: a future need, like a grandchild who may need more financial help than other beneficiaries at some point in their life. beneficiaries who are not capable or responsible enough to deal with money themselves.

What happens to a discretionary trust when the trustee dies?

Discretionary Trust assets do not form part of your Estate

Even if you are the personal trustee of your family trust, the trust will usually continue to have life after your death. The assets are not “your” personally owned assets that are part of your estate to be gifted via your Will.

Can a trustee be a beneficiary of a discretionary trust?

The short answer is yes, but the trustee will have to be extremely careful to never engage in any actions that would constitute a breach of trust, including placing their personal interests above those of the other beneficiaries.

Can you remove a beneficiary from a discretionary trust?

If it is a discretionary trust, you may not have to do much to exclude a beneficiary. The trustee has the discretionary power to exclude beneficiaries from the trust. However, the trustee must act in good faith and for the benefit of the beneficiaries.

Who controls a discretionary trust?

An entity controls the discretionary trust if the trustee either acts, or might reasonably be expected to act, in accordance with the directions or wishes of the entity/or the entity's affiliates, or both the entity and its affiliates.

How can you identify a beneficial owner?

A beneficial owner of a non-individual customer is an individual that controls the customer, or either directly or indirectly owns 25% or more of the customer. The beneficial owner's (or beneficial owners') interest in the non- individual customer will often be indirect.

Is the trustee of a trust the beneficial owner?

A trust is an agreement where someone (a trustor) gives legal ownership of assets to someone else (a trustee) in order to manage them on behalf of a third party (beneficiary). In some cases, a trustee can be a beneficial owner of a trust if they also stand to personally benefit from how the assets are managed.

Who is considered an Ultimate Beneficial Owner?

A UBO is the one with ultimate control over the business. They are a natural person who owns or controls, directly or indirectly, at least 25% of the company's share capital or at least 25% of the voting rights or have the right to appoint or dismiss a majority of the managers or directors.

Who is not a beneficial owner?

In addition, “beneficial owner” does not include a minor child (although the information of their parent or guardian has to be reported); an individual acting as a nominee, intermediary, custodian, or agent of another individual; an employee acting solely as an employee; an individual whose only interest in the company ...

What is the difference between a beneficiary and a beneficial owner?

Beneficiaries of a trust are those people who are supposed to receive distributions of assets or income from a trust. “Beneficial owner” is a much more recent term, that developed with Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorism (AML-CFT) laws, that really only became known in the last 20-30 years.

What is the rule for beneficial owner?

Under the ownership prong, a beneficial owner is each individual, if any, who, directly or indirectly, through any contract, arrangement, understanding, relationship or otherwise, owns 25 percent or more of the equity interests of a legal entity customer.