Howard Rosen’s phone rang at 7:43 a.m. on December 23, 2024. A client wanted to know if his name would appear on the list. The list—IRS summonses targeting U.S. clients of Trident Trust Group, approved by a federal judge that morning—represented either vindication or disaster, depending on who you asked. The focus was on whether offshore asset protection trusts could withstand review.
“Everyone wants to know the same thing,” said Rosen, a Coral Gables attorney-CPA whose firm, Donlevy-Rosen & Rosen at 2121 Ponce de Leon Boulevard, has structured offshore trusts for three decades. “Will my name be there? I tell them, “Only if you weren’t already reporting everything.”
The Trident investigation employed “John Doe” summonses seeking records spanning 2014 through 2023—a fishing expedition for tax violations by unknown individuals. For Rosen’s clients, who’d spent years filing Forms 3520, 3520-A, 8938, and 114 with meticulous precision, the summonses proved what they’d been told: transparency is the new protection.
By late October 2025, Donlevy-Rosen announced it was expanding services to meet “continued rise in demand” from business owners seeking offshore structures. The firm’s phones hadn’t stopped since the Trident news broke. What changed wasn’t the law. What changed was who finally understood it.
Why Domestic Protection Keeps Collapsing
Michael Huber thought Nevada would protect him. The real estate developer transferred $3.2 million in rental properties to a Nevada domestic asset protection trust in 2014. Nevada’s statutes looked bulletproof. When a partnership dispute erupted in 2016, California courts pierced the trust within eighteen months, applying California law to the California resident.
In the 2018 Alaska Supreme Court decision Toni 1 Trust v. Wacker, 413 P.3d 1199, the court ruled Alaska couldn’t grant itself exclusive jurisdiction over fraudulent transfer claims. When Montana obtained jurisdiction, it voided the Alaska trust. The Full Faith and Credit Clause won.
Federal bankruptcy law compounds the problem. In Battley v. Mortensen, a bankruptcy court voided an Alaska trust transfer beyond Alaska’s four-year limitations by applying federal ten-year lookback rules. State protective statutes collapsed under federal jurisdiction.
The Offshore Difference
Lawrence and Pamela Anderson discovered offshore protection’s limits and strengths simultaneously. After the Federal Trade Commission won judgments against them for fraudulent investment schemes, they’d transferred assets to a Cook Islands trust. A Ninth Circuit court held them in contempt for failing to repatriate funds in FTC v. Affordable Media.
The contempt order stood. The Andersons went to jail. The assets remained offshore. The Cook Islands trustee, operating under Cook Islands law requiring creditors to prove fraud by clear and convincing evidence within two years, never returned the money. The trust worked.
“People focus on the contempt citation and miss the point,” said Blake Harris, a California attorney who structures offshore trusts. “The court couldn’t touch the assets. That’s what matters.”
“The court simply held that a provision of Alaska law that says all legal actions involving transfers to Alaska self-settled trusts must be decided by Alaska courts was not enforceable when the courts of another state… had jurisdiction. The court did not hold that Alaska law would allow creditors access to the trust’s assets.” — Marty Shenkman, asset protection attorney, analyzing Toni 1 Trust v. Wacker
The jurisdictional separation proves decisive. Cook Islands law, Nevis law, and Belize law don’t answer to U.S. courts. When properly structured before creditor threats materialize, with genuinely independent foreign trustees and complete IRS disclosure, these arrangements survive challenges that collapse domestic trusts.
The Transparency Paradox
Since 2017, the OECD’s Common Reporting Standard has required automatic exchange of financial account information among tax authorities. By 2024, exchanges covered 123 million accounts holding EUR 12 trillion. Denmark’s data suggests the system exposed two-thirds of previously hidden offshore wealth.
U.S. taxpayers face layered obligations. Form 8938 for foreign assets exceeding $50,000. Form 114 to FinCEN when accounts exceed $10,000. Form 3520 annually for trust creators. Penalties reach $10,000 to $100,000 per form for non-compliance.
The compliance burden hasn’t eliminated offshore planning—it’s purified it. Courts can’t claim concealment when every account appears on tax returns. The IRS can’t claim evasion when every dollar is reported and taxed. Rosen’s firm claims zero failures when trusts are established years before threats emerge, administered independently, and reported completely from inception.
Who Pays $100,000 to Report Everything?
Dr. Sarah Martinez makes the calculation every cardiologist with $5 million eventually makes. Malpractice insurance covers $2 million per incident. A catastrophic surgical outcome with multiple plaintiffs could exceed coverage. Setup costs run $10,000 to $100,000. Annual trustee fees cost $2,000 to $10,000. The Cook Islands trustee will actually control distributions—she can’t wire money to herself when convenient.
For Martinez and thousands like her, the math works. Timing matters more than amounts. A 2025 Illinois case found fraudulent intent in a $1.5 million transfer made after debt arose. Frank Butselaar received 30 months imprisonment in 2025 for structures concealing $28 million. The structures weren’t illegal. The concealment was.
The Critics Aren’t Wrong
“These arrangements frustrate legitimate creditor rights,” said Andrew Stoltmann, a Chicago securities attorney. “Someone gets a judgment after years of litigation, then discovers the defendant moved everything to Nevis.”
The Ninth Circuit addressed this in 2024’s The Lovering Tubbs Trust v. Hoffman, ruling that fraudulent transfer claims focus on intent at transfer time. When Daniel Allen transferred $6 million during active claims, courts found fraud. When Dmitry Rybolovlev held $8 billion in a Cook Islands trust established years before the divorce, Swiss courts respected it.
Consumer advocates note the access disparity. Offshore protection costs $100,000—available to doctors and CEOs, not teachers. British Virgin Islands structures that separate assets from operational risk while satisfying OECD economic substance requirements cost less, offering middle-ground protection for business succession planning.
What the Investigation Means
The Trident summonses remain sealed. Rosen’s clients who reported everything await confirmation that they did it correctly. Others face whether to enter the IRS Voluntary Disclosure Program now or wait.
The investigation proved what offshore attorneys have argued: proper structures survive scrutiny because scrutiny validates them. Courts can’t claim concealment when accounts appear on tax returns.
For business owners evaluating offshore planning in 2026, the calculation has clarified. Structures established years ahead, administered independently, and disclosed completely work. Costs prove proportional for individuals with assets exceeding $1 million facing substantial exposure. Domestic alternatives offer protection that looks solid until tested.
Offshore planning cannot provide simplicity or speed. Compliance requires 40 billable hours annually. Setup takes six months. The difference between 2026 and 2016 is that everyone—including the IRS—knows where the assets are. Protection comes not from hiding but from the fact that Cook Islands courts apply Cook Islands law, and U.S. judgments stop at the border.
Whether that remains true after Trident concludes depends on what those sealed summonses reveal. Rosen’s phone is still ringing.
