STEP Advanced Certificate in Trusts: Law and Practice (International)

This course provides a review of the trust concept and the role, powers, and duties of a trustee to enable trust practitioners to manage wealth held in trust in a professional and effective manner in compliance with industry best practice. 

China Delivery - PUYI

STEP and CLT International have appointed PUYI Education, an education offshoot of PUYI, to deliver the globally recognised Diploma in International Trust Management to trusts and estates practitioners in China for the first time. For students looking to enrol for the first intake, please visit STEP Advanced Certificate in Trusts: Law and Practice (International) - China for information.

You will be able to:

• Explain and advice upon the roles, responsibilities and duties of trustees
• Appreciate how trust companies can market trust services in a competitive environment
• Comply with requirement upon being appointed as trustee, including in relation to AML, FATCA and CRS
• Be able to construe typical provisions of a trust instrument, including dispositive provisions of discretionary, settlor-directed and life interest trust
• Understand how to exercise a dispositive power to pay or apply income, ·appoint an absolute interest or upon new trusts and of re-settlement
• Understand the administrative powers and other provisions that trustees may require to administer the trust, invest and manage the trust fund
• Appreciate the significance of conflict of laws issues, choice and change of the governing law of the trust
• Administer a trust that confers dispositive and/or administrative powers upon a protector
• Discuss, advise on and implement an estate plan by use of a trust, in particular for persons resident and domiciled in a forced heirship jurisdiction
• Understand how offshore trusts may be used to protect family wealth (from creditors, claimants, litigants, trustees-in bankruptcy, and how to structure an asset-protection trust
• Administer a purpose trust used for typical functions and to hold certain assets, such as shares in a PTC or employee-benefit plan
• Understand the characteristics of a foundation, how to register and administer one as a member of its council.

The course is designed for all professionals moving into or working in financial services (specifically trusts and corporate services), who wish to develop their understanding and knowledge of this area.

Students of this course typically include:

• Trust Officers/Administrators
• Trust Managers (Senior)
• Trustees/Fiduciaries
• Corporate Administrators
• Lawyers/Solicitors/Attorneys
• Wealth Managers
• Accountants
• Tax Advisors
• Compliance Officers/Managers
• Private Bankers
• Secretarial/Administration
• Client Relations/Marketing/Sales
• Financial/Estate Planners

• Successful completion of the course will award students with 30 Diploma-Level credits towards STEP membership. 
• Ideal for practitioners looking for professional accreditation. 
• A recognised ‘gold-standard’ professional qualification for those working in the industry, globally recognised by employers, regulators, clients, and professionals. 
• Blended delivery, written and taught by practitioners, focusing on everyday matters encountered in international trust management from creation, modern usage, and administration of trusts. 
• Provides students with the ability to grow their own professional network, interact with students online from a range of professions, build relationships and share study tips/support as a cohort. 
• The course is subject to the rigorous quality assurance procedures of Manchester Business School, a Faculty of the University of Manchester. 

60 Entry-Level Credits 

Note: Applicants must have obtained 60 STEP Entry-Level credits to enrol onto this course or be a member of STEP. Visit STEP's Qualifications and Membership to understand how to apply. 

Please note all courses are delivered fully online.  

This course is available for study all year round, with intakes at different points throughout the year. The core programme is delivered through a blend of distance learning and four virtual workshops as part of a revision-week series delivered online by experts in the field who possess vast amounts of professional experience and practical knowledge. 

We recommend that you spend four to six hours per week on private study for a minimum of four months prior to the examination. 

Enrolment onto this course will provide access to an online learning platform that contains:  

• bespoke soft copy course manual 
• supplementary resource material, including over 50 trust-related documents 
• self-assessment material 
• distance learning support 
• four days of online tuition 
• examination fees. 

Additional charges will apply for re-sit attempts and deferrals. 

The course is assessed by way of a five-hour open-book written examination which comprises 25 compulsory multiple-choice questions (each worth 1 mark), followed by three 25-mark essay/problem style questions chosen from a selection of five questions. The questions will be drawn from across the syllabus and candidates must achieve 50% to pass the Advanced Certificate. 

Once you have successfully completed this course, you will gain 30 Diploma-Level credits towards STEP membership and be awarded the STEP Advanced Certificate in Trusts: Law and Practice (International). 

China Delivery - PUYI

STEP and CLT International have appointed PUYI Education, an education offshoot of PUYI, to deliver the globally recognised Diploma in International Trust Management to trusts and estates practitioners in China for the first time. For students looking to enrol for the first intake, please visit STEP Advanced Certificate in Trusts: Law and Practice (International) - China for information.

Once you have successfully completed this course, you will gain 30 Diploma-Level credits towards STEP membership and be awarded the STEP Advanced Certificate in Trusts: Law and Practice (International).

Thanks to our online classroom, students can take this course from anywhere. You can select any of the dates indicated in the 'Booking and Fees' section below. 

The regions listed are indicative of the locally focused content of the workshops. Where possible, we encourage students to pick the region nearest to where they are studying from, as they reflect the time zones of the teaching. 

• UK & Crown Dependencies 
• Europe 
• Asia 
• Caribbean & The Americas 

Course Timetable - 2022/23

Resit Timetable 2023

The regions listed are indicative of the locally focused content of the workshops. Where possible, we encourage students to pick the region nearest to where they are studying from, as they reflect the time zones of the teaching and the examination. Examinations cannot be rearranged to an alternative time zone once you have attended the tuition. All students applying for a resit assessment must apply for the date applicable to their local centre.

China Delivery - PUYI

STEP and CLT International have appointed PUYI Education, an education offshoot of PUYI, to deliver the globally recognised Diploma in International Trust Management to trusts and estates practitioners in China for the first time. For students looking to enrol for the first intake, please visit STEP Advanced Certificate in Trusts: Law and Practice (International) - China for information.

Please note all courses are delivered fully online. 

Thank you for your interest in CLTI or STEP products. Due to government regulations, we are unable to accept online payments from, or, on behalf of students from certain countries and territories without prior agreement. Please contact us for further details on cltinternational@centlaw.com, +44 (0) 121 362 7733. 

Singapore Funding:

Eligible Singapore-based students can now receive funding of 50% of the course fees (subject to a funding cap). Visit Funding and Support for further details. If you are intending to seek funding with your application from IBF in Singapore, please note that you will need to complete our IBF FTS Funding Application and submit to cltinternational@centlaw.com for processing.

China Delivery - PUYI 

• STEP and CLT International have appointed PUYI Education, an education offshoot of PUYI, to deliver the globally recognised Diploma in International Trust Management to trusts and estates practitioners in China for the first time. For students looking to enrol for the first intake, please visit STEP Advanced Certificate in Trusts: Law and Practice (International) - China for information.