Family office, foundation and succession structures.
UAE family wealth and succession structuring for principals, family offices and internationally mobile families.
A family structure should do more than hold assets. It should explain who controls them, who benefits from them, how decisions are made, how family members participate, how disputes are avoided and what happens when the founder is no longer able to act.
Moore Law advises on family office, foundation and succession structures involving UAE and cross-border elements, including DIFC, ADGM and other vehicles where appropriate. The work is coordinated with tax, property, residency, company ownership and family governance.
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A foundation or family office is not an automatic tax or asset-protection solution. It must be designed around the family, assets, control, tax and applicable law.
Family governance is the structure behind the structure.
Families often ask for a foundation, holding company or family office. The better first question is what the family needs the structure to do.
A founder may want to retain control while preparing succession. Siblings may need a voting framework. Children may need staged access rather than immediate ownership. A spouse may need protection. A family business may need continuity. Real estate, investments and operating companies may need to sit under different layers. Tax residence and immigration status may be changing.
The vehicle matters, but it is not the whole answer. Governance is the centre of the structure.
The family should not be forced to fit the entity. The entity should be designed around the family.
Structures commonly considered.
Family holding company
A company used to hold family assets, shares or investments under defined governance and succession arrangements.
DIFC foundation
A DIFC legal structure that can be used for family wealth planning, holding structures, succession and governance where suitable.
ADGM foundation
An ADGM structure that may support wealth management, preservation, family succession planning and asset holding.
Single family office
A dedicated structure to coordinate the financial, administrative, strategic and governance needs of one family.
Foundation-owned companies
A foundation may own holding or operating entities, subject to tax, banking, control and governance review.
Family charter and governance documents
Documents that explain decision-making, family participation, next-generation involvement, reserved matters and dispute management.
What Moore Law assesses.
- Family members and generations involved.
- Founder control and succession objectives.
- Assets to be held.
- Existing companies, property and investments.
- Tax residence of founder and family members.
- UAE residency, Golden Visa or second citizenship connections.
- Whether DIFC, ADGM or another structure is suitable.
- Council, board, protector, guardian or adviser roles.
- Beneficiary rights and staged access.
- Divorce, death, incapacity and dispute scenarios.
- Banking and beneficial-ownership evidence.
- Corporate tax and family foundation treatment.
- Interaction with foreign inheritance and tax rules.
How the family structure is designed.
Family and asset mapping
Founder-control and succession review
Tax-residence and jurisdiction review
Vehicle comparison
Governance framework design
Beneficiary and control documentation
Formation or restructuring coordination
Ongoing governance and review
Where family structures go wrong.
- The foundation is created before the family governance is understood.
- Founder control is too broad or too weak.
- Beneficiary rights are unclear.
- Foreign tax and inheritance rules are not checked.
- Bankability and source-of-wealth evidence are not prepared.
- Property, operating companies and investments are mixed without reason.
- The next generation has rights but no governance role.
- The structure does not address death, incapacity, divorce or family dispute.
Related: Holding Structures hub · UAE holding company · Property holding structures · UAE residency · Second citizenship · Contact Corporate Services.
Common questions.
Is a DIFC or ADGM foundation better?
There is no universal answer. DIFC and ADGM both offer sophisticated frameworks, but the correct route depends on assets, family governance, cost, tax, banking, control and professional-adviser requirements.
Can a foundation own a UAE company?
Often yes, depending on the foundation, company type, authority rules, bankability, tax position and purpose of the ownership chain.
Does a foundation avoid inheritance rules?
A foundation can be part of succession planning, but inheritance, forced-heirship, matrimonial, tax and foreign-law issues must be reviewed. It should not be presented as an automatic inheritance solution.
Can a family office be set up without a foundation?
Yes. A family office can be structured through a company or other vehicle depending on its function. A foundation is only one possible component.
Can a foundation be tax transparent?
Potentially, if the relevant UAE corporate tax conditions are met and the FTA treatment is available. The facts, beneficiaries, purpose and underlying entities must be reviewed.
Foundation, family office and beneficial-ownership requirements should always be checked against current UAE and financial-centre sources before implementation.
- DIFC — Private and Family Wealth Offering
- DIFC — Company Structures
- ADGM — Family Offices
- ADGM — Foundations Regime
- Federal Tax Authority — Family Foundations Guide
- UAE Cabinet Resolution No. 109 of 2023 — Real Beneficiary Procedures
External government and institutional sources. Programme figures and regulatory positions should be verified against these before they are relied upon.