Settlor Account for an Offshore Trust or Foundation

A Settlor Account is really a "personal buffer account" between you and the Trust or Foundation. It is set up by the Trust/Foundation and for the Trust/Foundation - but the account is set up so that funds directed to you as the payee can be de[posited, even though the account is not legally yours.

You can use it to deposit money to your Trust/Foundation, also when the funds were made payable to you. The account is "owned" by the Trust/Foundation, but has your name attached to it so it can accept deposits of funds that are made payable to yourself, including checks, money orders, and bank drafts. The specific features can vary, but the existence of such an account makes it possible for you to avoid a lot of hassle with deposits you make to your Trust/Foundation - money deposited onto this account will not be reported to your government and will legally not be considered received by you personally.

Most bank will no longer set up such accounts without having your ID on file. If that is the requirement, yuo should abstain from doing it.

Even then, setting up a bank account is not free. You must expect to be charged a minimum of $200-500, as you will need to set up that account on behalf of the Trust/Foundation. Most banks will only establish such an account if they receive an opening deposit a minimum of $1000 to the account, sometimes even $10,000. Even though this money is to be paid "out of your pocket", it really still is money that works for you, and you can withdraw it again when you close the account - if you ever want to do that.

Do not expect to get any interest on the balance of such an account! After all, the bank has to accept funds from a foreign country, which involves quite some transactions you would not normally get for free anywhere else...