Unlike most trusts, the NLT is not under the jurisdiction of a government which can be taken over next year by new rulers who change the laws. This is the risk many tax havens in smaller countries around the world face. Today they may give you an offshore trust with favorable tax and asset protection laws, but next year that small country may get taken over by new rulers who change everything. There goes all your offshore trust’s protection. This has actually happened in many countries.
Being non-statutory, the NLT can be renewed for centuries into the future . . . and will continue to enjoy longevity regardless of what happens to governments and their statutes. It is based on law which is eternal and can never be overturned or changed by any individual or group.
The NLT itself is not perpetual, because that is not lawful and would be considered a sham in the trust community. To hold assets on behalf of beneficiaries forever without ever distributing those assets would destroy the integrity of the trust. But the NLT adopts the duration most agreed upon in the international community of trust law books – – 21 years. Then at the end of the 21 years, if all the trustees agree, it can be renewed for another 21 years. There is no limit to how many times that renewal can occur.
The main benefit for longevity is that no state and no outside authority can invalidate or terminate the trust. It can only be terminated by the trustees themselves.
