Private Wealth, Trusts &
Foundations.

Private wealth structuring is where the firm's corporate, funds and contentious experience converge — and it is among the largest bodies of work Emirates Legal has built in the DIFC. The firm has incorporated numerous foundations and trusts for founders, families and family offices; advised on the governance of the wealth they hold; and connected those structures to the asset management and wealth management industry within the Centre. What follows is not a menu of theoretical capability: it is a practice.

DIFC Foundations — Foundations Law, DIFC Law No. 3 of 2018

The DIFC foundation, introduced by the Foundations Law, DIFC Law No. 3 of 2018, has become the region's structure of choice for family wealth. A foundation is an incorporated body with its own legal personality: it owns its assets in its own name, has no shareholders or members, and is governed by a council in accordance with its charter and by-laws. The founder endows assets on the foundation and may reserve powers — to amend, to appoint and remove council members, to direct investments — while a guardian may be appointed to supervise the council. Unlike a trust, nothing is held "for" anyone: the foundation itself owns the wealth, which is precisely what makes it intuitive for families from civil law and Shari'a traditions, and robust against attack. A DIFC foundation may endure indefinitely, may migrate into or out of the Centre, may be converted from an existing company, and — following the 2024 amendments — may be converted back into a company where circumstances change. Disputes concerning a foundation may be resolved before the DIFC Courts or, where the charter so provides, in private arbitration.

The uses are practical. Succession: assets held by a foundation do not form part of a deceased founder's estate, so they pass outside probate and outside forced heirship claims, according to the by-laws the founder wrote. Asset protection: the 2024 amendments to the Foundations Law strengthened the firewall considerably — a creditor attacking an endowment must now prove the founder intended to defraud that creditor, claims are subject to a three-year limitation period, and foreign judgments inconsistent with the Foundations Law are not enforced against the structure. Real estate: under the DIFC's arrangement with the Dubai Land Department, a DIFC foundation may directly hold real property anywhere in Dubai, allowing families to move their property portfolios into a governed succession structure without disturbing ownership economics. Family business continuity: a foundation above the family holding company separates ownership from management, holds the shares through generational transitions, and embeds the family's constitution in legally binding by-laws. Emirates Legal has established foundations for each of these purposes, and administers the governance that follows.

DIFC Trusts — Trust Law, DIFC Law No. 4 of 2018

Alongside the foundation, the DIFC operates one of the most modern common law trust regimes in the world under the Trust Law, DIFC Law No. 4 of 2018. The Law permits the full range of instruments familiar to international private clients: discretionary trusts, fixed interest trusts, charitable trusts, protective trusts, and non-charitable purpose trusts; settlors may reserve powers without invalidating the trust, protectors may be appointed, and trusts may be of unlimited duration. The regime is fortified by firewall provisions mirroring those of the Foundations Law: questions concerning a DIFC trust are determined by DIFC law alone, foreign judgments inconsistent with the Trust Law are denied enforcement, and the 2024 amendments added duress provisions requiring trust officers to cease acting on foreign orders made against them — so that wealth settled in the Centre stays governed by the Centre's law.

The firm's trust practice runs from design to defence. It advises settlors on the choice between trust and foundation — a decision that turns on the family's legal culture, the assets involved, control preferences and the recognition the structure will need in other jurisdictions — and frequently deploys the two together, a foundation holding operating businesses with trusts holding financial assets or serving specific beneficiaries. The firm drafts trust instruments and letters of wishes; advises trustees, protectors and beneficiaries on their duties, powers and rights; structures private trust arrangements for families who want institutional discipline without an institutional trustee; and, when structures are attacked, defends them — with the advantage of a disputes team that appears before the DIFC Courts week in, week out.

The practice in action

• Establishment of DIFC foundations — charter and by-laws drafting, endowment mechanics, council, guardian and registered agent arrangements
• Establishment of DIFC trusts — trust instruments, reserved powers, protector provisions, letters of wishes
• Trust-or-foundation analysis and combined structures, including foundations holding family operating companies and Prescribed Company subsidiaries
• Transfer of Dubai real estate into DIFC foundations under the Dubai Land Department arrangement
• Single and multi-family office structuring under the Family Arrangements Regulations 2023, including the USD 50 million aggregate net asset threshold
• Registration and certification of Family Entities, Family Offices and Family Businesses, including Private Register filings and the designated Family Business register
• Family charters and family governance frameworks, embedded in enforceable by-laws
• Interface with the wealth and asset management industry — connecting foundations and trusts to DIFC-licensed managers, custodians and advisers
• DIFC Wills — full, property, financial assets, business owner and guardianship wills
• Succession planning and intergenerational asset transfer
• Asset protection, ring-fencing and confidentiality structuring under the 2024 firewall amendments
• Foundation and trust disputes, governance breakdowns and protective applications before the DIFC Courts