Several living trusts have been established in recent years, particularly as part of tax planning. Often, no minutes book was prepared on this occasion, as these trusts have very few transactions to carry out in a year.

However, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has set up a team specifically responsible for auditing trusts, a phenomenon that is becoming more and more common.

Representatives of the CRA have indicated that the specific areas of the audit would include, among others, the trust book; the existence of the asset that originated the donation (bullion, coin), the real intention of the grantor, as well as the payable or paid income to the beneficiaries.

We therefore propose to prepare the minutes book for you in order to address this point in the event of any potential audit.

The minutes book serves as evidence of its content in any action, proceeding, or suit against the trust or against a trustee. An up-to-date book could save you costly witness evidence in any potential litigation.

We also offer you the service of corporate vault for your trust book.

A service to organize the minutes of your trust, under the supervision of professionals and qualified technicians; precise and efficient updating of your records as well as the storage of the book and the bullion, coin, or other banknote that constituted the trust. More specifically, the service includes:

• Consultations (one hour per year) at the client's request for any legal questions regarding their trust;
• Storage in a vault of the trust minutes book and the bullion, coin, or other banknote that constituted it;
• Maintenance of an ongoing file;
• Preparation of annual meetings required by law in collaboration with the trust accountant;
• Sending a report to the accountant containing information about the trust;
• Legal follow-up of the company.

After receiving your mandate, we will contact you so that you can send your minutes book to our office or, alternatively, your documentation (see the next section "Required Documents"). After analysis, we will contact you again to share our comments and the work to be done. A cost assessment will be made, and any substantial modifications will be billed at an hourly rate, separate from the corporate vault service. The fees for updates and minor modifications may be included in the service.

If you are interested in these services, we invite you to contact us for more information.

Required documents

• the name of the trust to be registered with the service;
• the name and contact information of the trust's accountant;
• the minutes book of the trust, which should include;
• a certified copy or original copy of the trust deed;
• certified statements from the Register of Personal and Movable Real Rights (if applicable) for the registration of donation clauses, unseizability clauses, and inalienability clauses;
• the silver bar, coin, or banknote that was used in the establishment;
• the bank delegations signed by the trustees;
• the name and address of all trustees (past and present, with dates of mandates, and accompanying documentation);
• the name and address of all beneficiaries;