A Wyoming Statutory Trust (WST)—governed by Wyoming Statutes § 17-23-101 et seq.—is a flexible, unincorporated business entity designed to hold, manage, and protect assets (such as real estate, securities, or ownership in LLCs).
Unlike traditional estate-planning trusts, a WST is registered with the Wyoming Secretary of State as an independent legal entity, offering strong asset protection, privacy, and liability shields similar to a corporation or LLC.
What Makes a Wyoming Statutory Trust Unique?
- Series Functionality: A WST can create internal sub-units or “series”. Each series can hold separate assets, have distinct beneficiaries/trustees, and maintain its own liabilities isolated from the parent trust and other series.
- Privacy: Wyoming does not publicize the names of the trust’s beneficiaries or overall asset holdings on public records.
- Entity Status: A WST can enter into contracts, sue and be sued, and hold title to property or equity interests in its own name.
How to Properly Name a Series Within a Trust
Because individual series within a Wyoming Statutory Trust are created through the trust’s private Governing Instrument (Trust Agreement) rather than individual public filings for each series, proper naming is essential to establish legal separation and clarity for banks, courts, and deeds.
Standard Naming Convention Formula
The industry best practice for naming a series is:
Proper Examples
- For Real Estate Holdings:
- Parent Trust: Apex Capital Holdings Statutory Trust
- Series Name: Apex Capital Holdings Statutory Trust – Series 101 Main St
- For Owning Sub-Entities / LLCs:
- Parent Trust: Valhalla Asset Management Statutory Trust
- Series Name: Valhalla Asset Management Statutory Trust – Series Ohio Expansion
Best Practices for Proper Series Execution
To maintain liability protection between series under Wyoming law (W.S. § 17-23-106):
- Notice in the Certificate of Trust: The main Certificate of Trust filed with the Secretary of State must contain statutory notice stating that the trust is authorized to form series with limited liability.
- Explicit Reference in Documents: Always use the full series name on contracts, deeds, and bank accounts (e.g., “Apex Capital Holdings Statutory Trust – Series 101 Main St, a series of a Wyoming Statutory Trust”).
- Separate Accounting: Maintain separate accounting records, financial transactions, and bank accounts for each named series. Never commingle funds between series.