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Trust Law/Level VI · Protection/6.3 Fraud, ethics and limits/Lesson 7

Privacy versus secrecy

The difference between lawful privacy and unlawful secrecy in trusts, and where beneficial ownership registers in the US, UK and EU stand.

Education, not legal advice. Trust law changes from country to country and state to state, and the right structure depends on your situation. Anything you sign should be drafted or reviewed by a qualified lawyer where you live.

The lean path

The cheapest, lowest-tax, simplest and most private route the law allows, best first. Each step names the rule it rests on and the condition that keeps it lawful.

  1. A funded revocable living trust keeps its terms out of public probate files, the cheapest everyday privacy tool. Catch: it hides nothing from creditors (UTC §505(a)(1)) or tax authorities.
  2. A recorded Florida deed to a named trustee vests title, and those dealing with the trustee need not inquire into unnamed beneficiaries (Fla. Stat. §689.073), keeping owners off land records. Catch: it is privacy, not a creditor shield; taxes and court process still apply.
  3. US companies and US persons now file no beneficial ownership report with FinCEN, under the final rule of August 2026. Catch: foreign companies registered to do business in a state still report their non-US owners, and all tax filings continue.
  4. UK trustees register most express trusts on HMRC’s Trust Registration Service, which is not public; others get limited data only on a money-laundering-linked legitimate interest. Catch: registration itself is compulsory, and law enforcement has wider access.
  5. In the EU, company ownership registers are no longer open to the general public after WM and Sovim (2022); access needs a legitimate interest under Directive 2024/1640. Catch: journalists and civil-society organisations are presumed to have one.

MaterialsLesson 2.1.3, on probate, and lesson 3.1.5, on living trust myths about privacyThe gov.uk guidance on registering a trust with the Trust Registration ServiceThe FinCEN beneficial ownership information page on fincen.gov, for the current US positionThe CJEU judgment in WM and Sovim (joined cases C-37/20 and C-601/20, 22 November 2022), free on eur-lex.europa.eu

Wonder

  1. Why might a family prefer that an estate’s details not appear in public court records?
  2. Where does keeping information private end and hiding assets from creditors or tax authorities begin?
  3. Who is allowed to see the beneficial owners of a trust in the UK or the EU?

Explore

  1. Privacy and secrecy are different. Privacy means keeping personal financial details out of public view while still giving them to anyone with a legal right to them, such as tax authorities, courts and creditors using legal process. Secrecy, in the sense this lesson uses, means hiding assets or ownership from those who are entitled to know. The first is lawful in most places; the second can be fraud or a crime. This lesson explains the difference and the law on registers; it does not recommend any structure.
  2. In most US states, a will admitted to probate and many court filings become public records (lesson 2.1.3). Assets held in a funded living trust usually pass without probate, so the trust’s terms generally stay out of court files, though trustees may have to notify beneficiaries, and a dispute can bring the trust into court (lesson 3.1.5). Privacy can matter for vulnerable beneficiaries, such as a child or a person with a disability. It does not hide assets from creditors or tax authorities.
  3. Secrecy crosses the line when it is used to defeat lawful claims. A transfer made to hinder, delay or defraud a creditor can be undone under US voidable transfer law (lesson 6.3.1), and hiding assets in bankruptcy can be a crime. Failing to report foreign trusts and accounts brings penalties (lesson 6.2.4). The question is not whether information is private but whether it is withheld from someone with a legal right to it.
  4. In the United States, the Corporate Transparency Act (2021) required many companies to report their beneficial owners to FinCEN, in a database that was not public. After court challenges, FinCEN issued an interim final rule in March 2025 exempting US companies and US persons, and a final rule effective 14 August 2026 made that exemption permanent. Only certain foreign companies registered to do business in a US state must still report, and only their non-US beneficial owners. Rules can change, so fincen.gov is the authority.
  5. In the United Kingdom, trustees of most UK express trusts must register with HMRC’s Trust Registration Service, introduced in 2017 and widened so that existing non-taxable trusts had to register by 1 September 2022. The register is not public. Since September 2022, HMRC releases limited details to others only if they show a legitimate interest linked to investigating money laundering or terrorist financing, or ask about a trust that controls an offshore company. Law enforcement bodies have wider access.
  6. In the European Union, the Court of Justice held in WM and Sovim (22 November 2022) that a provision requiring company beneficial ownership registers to be open to any member of the public was invalid, as a serious interference with rights to privacy and data protection. Access to trust registers already required a legitimate interest. The 2024 Anti-Money Laundering Directive (EU 2024/1640) bases public access on legitimate interest, presumed for groups such as journalists and civil society organisations, with member states implementing it in stages.

Key facts

  • Privacy keeps details out of public view while still disclosing them to those with a legal right to know; secrecy withholds them from those entitled to know.
  • A funded living trust usually keeps its terms out of public probate files but does not hide assets from creditors or tax authorities.
  • FinCEN’s interim final rule of March 2025, made permanent by a final rule effective 14 August 2026, exempts US companies and US persons from Corporate Transparency Act beneficial ownership reporting.
  • The UK Trust Registration Service is not public; since September 2022 HMRC shares limited data only on a legitimate interest linked to money laundering or terrorist financing, or for trusts controlling offshore companies.
  • In WM and Sovim (C-37/20 and C-601/20, 22 November 2022), the CJEU invalidated the EU rule giving the general public access to company beneficial ownership registers.
  • The EU’s 2024 Anti-Money Laundering Directive bases public access on legitimate interest, presumed for groups such as journalists and civil society organisations.

Exercise nine, six, three, one

9CollectList up to 9 rules about who can see information about a trust or its owners, from this lesson or an official source you are reading (some sources give fewer), such as probate records, beneficiary notices, tax reports and register access.
6ClusterSort them into 6 categories: public court records, private trust records, tax reporting, US beneficial ownership rules, UK register rules, and EU register rules.
3DistillReduce the 6 categories to 3 groups: information the public can see, information only authorities or people with a legitimate interest can see, and information that must never be withheld from someone with a legal right to it.
1CrystallizeWrite 1 sentence explaining, in your own words, the difference between keeping a trust private and keeping it secret.

Fact check

Dates, figures and claims checked against the published sources listed below.

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