How safe and protected are my assets in Belize?
Boris Mannsfeld - Boris Mannsfeld & Associates
An asset is anything deemed to be of significant value, which could include real estate, precious metals, cash, business investments, commodities, etc.
Your real estate assets are extremely safe in Belize, in comparison with any other Central American or South American country. The reason behind that is because Belizean law is based on British Commonwealth Law, so all the documentation is in English and its legal standing is in English. In comparison, if you have a legal...
Your real estate assets are extremely safe in Belize, in comparison with any other Central American or South American country. The reason behind that is because Belizean law is based on British Commonwealth Law, so all the documentation is in English and its legal standing is in English. In comparison, if you have a legal...
An asset is anything deemed to be of significant value, which could include real estate, precious metals, cash, business investments, commodities, etc.
Your real estate assets are extremely safe in Belize, in comparison with any other Central American or South American country. The reason behind that is because Belizean law is based on British Commonwealth Law, so all the documentation is in English and its legal standing is in English. In comparison, if you have a legal document in Spanish and if you are dealing with a jurisdiction in which the language is Spanish and you have it translated in English, its legal standing is still in Spanish. This is in contrast with the situation in here in Belize, where the legal standing is in English. This is very helpful.
In addition, Belize recently started using a type of registration process from Europe in which every single place in the country of Belize is mapped via GPS and the title processing is simple. In Belize we use absolute title, and there’s only one certificate issued. There is an approval process that is very extensive, including going through several government departments so that there is no claim or dispute on that kind of title. Some aspects of the older titling system in Belize weren’t the best, but this one has been tried and proven for a significant period of time. There are still some historical issues that are title-related, but as Belize moves to this new system and once you have title in this new system, disputes will no longer be an issue.
If a husband passes away, the title goes straight to the wife or vice versa. In cases of untimely death, regardless of what another jurisdiction says, Belizean law doesn’t care. If you passed away and you are married, no question, the property goes directly to the other spouse, period. So holding a title here in Belize is pretty cool. You can hold title in your individual name, in the capacity of an individual, you can hold a title in a foreign company, or even hold title in a United States entity. However, any foreign entity in Belize holding a titled property in Belize must foreign file because without the foreign property registered here, the government of Belize is unable to recognize that the company has the power, the capacity and the authority to hold the property. Filing in Belize is not a big deal, so just be aware that for your real estate property to be secured if you use a foreign entity, your foreign entity has to be registered here.
With regard to precious metals, there’s really no place to store them in Belize, except in the safety deposit box in a bank, but I do not really recommend that anywhere, except maybe in a bank in Singapore or in Switzerland. In the case when a bank becomes insolvent, anything you put in the bank becomes property of the bank. So a bank safety deposit box is never really a safe place to put your precious metals. Belize does not really have any high-end storage facilities; they have banana farms.
If we are speaking about US dollars, that is always a premium here because most of the banking, including financial transactions here like the wire transfers, never actually come into Belize; they occur outside of the country. So if you have cash and you deposit it here in Belize, it is very difficult to cash it out here. The banks wouldn’t even give you dollars unless you really need it, for example, if you are traveling, but then only in limited amounts. Even if you do a wire transfer outside of the country, you have to put forward a request to the central bank of Belize to gain permission to send the money out of the country. In order to avoid any international money laundering schemes, they would want to know the reason why.
The same is done for any denominations that are not specifically Belize dollars; Canadian dollars or US dollars. The exchange rate between US dollars and Belizean dollars is permanently pegged as two to one, and does not fluctuate. The Belizean dollar only fluctuates relative to currencies other than the US dollar as much as the dollar fluctuates against those currencies.
If you have assets with regard to business interests, for example, if you have a banana farm, a shrimp farm, zip line business, or any local Belize company and you are operating in Belize, I would say that type of company is very safe. It is more than reasonably safe because your business interests are covered under Belizean law. As long as you have your business permits, your assets are pretty safe.
There are people who get scared that their assets may not be safe and there are others who are not concerned. There’s a famous case with the former software anti-virus king John McAfee, who has plenty of wealth compared to most persons in the US. He was throwing money around in what in retrospect could be viewed as a careless manner, including funneling a lot of money into political parties of his liking, which he had every right to do. However, Belize is still a Third World Country, so some people were not happy with his activities. If you are not playing it that level, however, and you don’t have millions of dollars to spend in questionable ways, then no one in Belize will be able to seize your assets. That said, however, Belize is more a country of relationships and relations. It is not about “what you know,” but “who you know,” so whether this is good or bad, I couldn’t say, but I would say that it’s applicable.
Your real estate assets are extremely safe in Belize, in comparison with any other Central American or South American country. The reason behind that is because Belizean law is based on British Commonwealth Law, so all the documentation is in English and its legal standing is in English. In comparison, if you have a legal document in Spanish and if you are dealing with a jurisdiction in which the language is Spanish and you have it translated in English, its legal standing is still in Spanish. This is in contrast with the situation in here in Belize, where the legal standing is in English. This is very helpful.
In addition, Belize recently started using a type of registration process from Europe in which every single place in the country of Belize is mapped via GPS and the title processing is simple. In Belize we use absolute title, and there’s only one certificate issued. There is an approval process that is very extensive, including going through several government departments so that there is no claim or dispute on that kind of title. Some aspects of the older titling system in Belize weren’t the best, but this one has been tried and proven for a significant period of time. There are still some historical issues that are title-related, but as Belize moves to this new system and once you have title in this new system, disputes will no longer be an issue.
If a husband passes away, the title goes straight to the wife or vice versa. In cases of untimely death, regardless of what another jurisdiction says, Belizean law doesn’t care. If you passed away and you are married, no question, the property goes directly to the other spouse, period. So holding a title here in Belize is pretty cool. You can hold title in your individual name, in the capacity of an individual, you can hold a title in a foreign company, or even hold title in a United States entity. However, any foreign entity in Belize holding a titled property in Belize must foreign file because without the foreign property registered here, the government of Belize is unable to recognize that the company has the power, the capacity and the authority to hold the property. Filing in Belize is not a big deal, so just be aware that for your real estate property to be secured if you use a foreign entity, your foreign entity has to be registered here.
With regard to precious metals, there’s really no place to store them in Belize, except in the safety deposit box in a bank, but I do not really recommend that anywhere, except maybe in a bank in Singapore or in Switzerland. In the case when a bank becomes insolvent, anything you put in the bank becomes property of the bank. So a bank safety deposit box is never really a safe place to put your precious metals. Belize does not really have any high-end storage facilities; they have banana farms.
If we are speaking about US dollars, that is always a premium here because most of the banking, including financial transactions here like the wire transfers, never actually come into Belize; they occur outside of the country. So if you have cash and you deposit it here in Belize, it is very difficult to cash it out here. The banks wouldn’t even give you dollars unless you really need it, for example, if you are traveling, but then only in limited amounts. Even if you do a wire transfer outside of the country, you have to put forward a request to the central bank of Belize to gain permission to send the money out of the country. In order to avoid any international money laundering schemes, they would want to know the reason why.
The same is done for any denominations that are not specifically Belize dollars; Canadian dollars or US dollars. The exchange rate between US dollars and Belizean dollars is permanently pegged as two to one, and does not fluctuate. The Belizean dollar only fluctuates relative to currencies other than the US dollar as much as the dollar fluctuates against those currencies.
If you have assets with regard to business interests, for example, if you have a banana farm, a shrimp farm, zip line business, or any local Belize company and you are operating in Belize, I would say that type of company is very safe. It is more than reasonably safe because your business interests are covered under Belizean law. As long as you have your business permits, your assets are pretty safe.
There are people who get scared that their assets may not be safe and there are others who are not concerned. There’s a famous case with the former software anti-virus king John McAfee, who has plenty of wealth compared to most persons in the US. He was throwing money around in what in retrospect could be viewed as a careless manner, including funneling a lot of money into political parties of his liking, which he had every right to do. However, Belize is still a Third World Country, so some people were not happy with his activities. If you are not playing it that level, however, and you don’t have millions of dollars to spend in questionable ways, then no one in Belize will be able to seize your assets. That said, however, Belize is more a country of relationships and relations. It is not about “what you know,” but “who you know,” so whether this is good or bad, I couldn’t say, but I would say that it’s applicable.
Posted December 1, 2014
Christian Burn
Your assets are very safe in Belize. According to the laws in Belize, banks have to retain 24% liquidity, which is a very high ratio.
The Belize Bank and Belize Central Bank work very closely with the US Federal Reserve Bank. The exchange rate of the Belizean dollar is pegged to the US dollar, which offers a considerable amount of stability. Here in Belize, you do not need to worry about having your money in a country that is devaluing its currency and thereby making...
The Belize Bank and Belize Central Bank work very closely with the US Federal Reserve Bank. The exchange rate of the Belizean dollar is pegged to the US dollar, which offers a considerable amount of stability. Here in Belize, you do not need to worry about having your money in a country that is devaluing its currency and thereby making...
Your assets are very safe in Belize. According to the laws in Belize, banks have to retain 24% liquidity, which is a very high ratio.
The Belize Bank and Belize Central Bank work very closely with the US Federal Reserve Bank. The exchange rate of the Belizean dollar is pegged to the US dollar, which offers a considerable amount of stability. Here in Belize, you do not need to worry about having your money in a country that is devaluing its currency and thereby making everything you have worthless, which is another protection for your assets.
The Belize Bank and Belize Central Bank work very closely with the US Federal Reserve Bank. The exchange rate of the Belizean dollar is pegged to the US dollar, which offers a considerable amount of stability. Here in Belize, you do not need to worry about having your money in a country that is devaluing its currency and thereby making everything you have worthless, which is another protection for your assets.
Posted December 2, 2014
Rachel Jensen - Grand Baymen
British Common Law is practiced in Belize, which is favored by many who are looking for asset safety and protection. When Belize gained its independence in 1981 from Britain, it established a government that was based on other working, strong governments favoring the people’s privacy and other rights.
British Common Law is practiced in Belize, which is favored by many who are looking for asset safety and protection. When Belize gained its independence in 1981 from Britain, it established a government that was based on other working, strong governments favoring the people’s privacy and other rights.
Posted December 13, 2014
Wayne Robbins - The Placencia
Your assets are very safe in Belize. The United States had several banking issues recently as we all know and some banks and financial institutions went under. Belize, since its inception, has never had a bank that declared a bankruptcy.Belize has such a strong banking system that I would recommend opening up a bank account in Belize, especially if you are living here on a full time or even on a part time basis. The banking system of Belize is very strong, very safe, and very...
Your assets are very safe in Belize. The United States had several banking issues recently as we all know and some banks and financial institutions went under. Belize, since its inception, has never had a bank that declared a bankruptcy.Belize has such a strong banking system that I would recommend opening up a bank account in Belize, especially if you are living here on a full time or even on a part time basis. The banking system of Belize is very strong, very safe, and very stable. Nothing is guaranteed in life but most of the major banks are opening up or have already opened in Belize.
The biggest bank in Belize is Belize Bank, which is where many of my friends bank. Belize also have Scotia Bank and TD Bank and all the major banks, whether they are acting as a correspondent or not. No one in the 12 years that I have been down in Belize has ever complained tome or communicated any fear of the banking system in Belize.
With regard to other assets in Belize such as real estate, the government just doesn’t decide that one day they want to take your property, which happens a lot in many other Caribbean countries. The good news about Belize is that it used to be British Honduras and it is still part of the British Commonwealth so the laws of Belize as far as real estate is concerned shadows those of the US and Canada. When you buy a home, you will get a deed and physical ownership. In the 12 years that I have been in Belize, I have never seen anyone lose his or her home or condo to the government, because you get a deed.
Buying a home or condo in Belize or in Placencia, especially in our project, is like buying a home in New York, Florida, or Detroit. Contracts are written in English so you can understand them. They are very similar to American contracts.
When you buy a home, I recommend that you have a lawyer look at the transaction. They are going to charge you but then you make sure you are “crossing your t’s and dotting your I’s” when you consult with a lawyer. If you were buying a home in New York or Florida, you would have an attorney look at it, too.
You can do your own homework, but getting a deed and title ownership is very important and that is why in the Caribbean, I put Belize as one of the top three places to buy a home because of the safety, security, the fact that everyone speaks English, and being part of the British Commonwealth, their real estate laws shadow ours in the US and/or Canada.
(Garifuna Settlement Day greetings from Bank of Belize, pictured.)
Posted February 10, 2016