Ownership and funds
«It is all in my name.
If something happens to me, the business stops»
A holding company, a foundation or a trust built for the matter: ownership separated from operations, succession written down in advance.
Direct ownership makes the owner and his shareholding the subject of any dispute, and turns the passing of assets to heirs into a separate procedure in every country where an asset sits. A structure answers both at once.
What the structure gives you
The assets pass to the foundation, and the foundation becomes their legal owner. Inside, it is divided into cells: the liabilities of one cell are met only out of that cell’s assets and do not touch the rest.
Ownership
The owner no longer holds a direct interest: a claim against him does not reach the assets, and there is nothing for interim measures to attach to.
Isolation
A dispute or a pledge in one line of business stays within its own cell and does not reach the others.
Governance
The foundation’s rules fix who decides, how income is distributed and what happens when the generation changes.
Succession
Heirs receive beneficiary rights inside the foundation — without probate under the rules of every country where an asset sits.
The number of cells and what sits in them follows the asset base. A cell can be added for a new project or closed on exit — the rest of the structure is not rebuilt.
Where the foundation is established
The jurisdiction is chosen to fit the asset base, where the family is resident and what the banks require. The list is not closed: where needed, the structure is established elsewhere.
Foundations Act and the protected-cell regime: the separation of assets inside the structure rests on statute, not on contract
The default base. Mixed assets in several countries, a wide treaty network
Foundations under financial-centre law built on English common law, with their own courts
When the family’s centre of interests and its banking sit in the Gulf
EU trust and fund law, structures with segregated sub-funds
When part of the assets or the heirs are in Europe
Foundations Act, straightforward registration and a minimal set of mandatory organs
When the perimeter is narrow and the structure is needed quickly
The QFC financial-centre regime, with its own regulator and court
When the operating business or the partners are in Qatar
What people ask before deciding
How are ownership and control separated?
The foundation is the legal owner of the assets. Who decides, and how, is set by the foundation’s rules and the composition of its council; the day-to-day is run by the council and the administrator. Rights to income are described separately from the right to decide.
Do I lose control of the assets?
The founder sets the foundation’s rules and the composition of its council. Direct ownership is replaced by the decision-making order he laid down, not by somebody else’s will.
Does everything have to move at once?
No. Assets move line by line, in an agreed order. You can start with one line and widen the perimeter as you go.
Will a bank understand the structure?
Bank requirements are addressed before anything is filed, and every distribution has a chain from asset to account — which is exactly what compliance asks for.
Will my heirs be able to handle it?
They do not need to know corporate law: their rights are set out in the foundation’s rules, and the council and administrator run the day-to-day.
Why a foundation if there is a will?
A will takes effect on death and is executed under the rules of each country where an asset sits. A foundation operates continuously and does not depend on probate timetables.
Can the decision be reversed later?
Cells are opened, merged and closed as you go, and the foundation’s rules are amended in the manner provided. The structure is built for change, not for one scenario.
Let's start with your matter
Tell us briefly about your matter. We will agree on an appropriate format for an initial conversation and explore possible ways forward.
Where appropriate, we can enter into a confidentiality agreement before discussing sensitive information.
- What the asset or the matter is
- Which countries the parties are in
- Where things stand right now
- What result is needed, and by when