DIFC foundation: the Foundations Law, DIFC Law No. 3 of 2018.

A DIFC foundation is a body corporate under the Foundations Law, DIFC Law No. 3 of 2018, with a legal personality separate from its founders (Art. 10(1)). It holds property for named persons or a class, for charity or for other objects, and endowing it gives the founder no interest in it (Art. 27(4)).

No: Art. 24(1) says a foundation may, but need not, have one, and Art. 24(5) allows only one at a time. Without an agent, the registered office is your own DIFC lease or an affiliate's office and the By-laws are filed with the application. A Recognised Foreign Foundation must appoint one (Art. 62(3)).

The council needs at least two members, individuals aged 18 or over or bodies corporate (Art. 22(2)). A guardian is required only for a charitable or specified non-charitable object (Art. 23(1)), and the guardian may not act as a council member.

The Foundations Handbook gives 3 to 5 working days, typically, for the initial approval e-mail after the single portal submission. Address, DocuSign signatures and fee payment come next, and their pace depends on the documents, so we assemble the KYC pack and the registered office first.

At the Registrar, registration is Nil and the licence US$350 a year plus AED 20; data protection registration, where personal data is processed, adds US$750, then US$250 a year, and an establishment card, where needed, US$618. A Registered Agent and the accounts are budgeted per build. Our fee for the DIFC file is confirmed in writing after a free assessment.

Yes, in the first instance. The FTA treats a foundation with separate legal personality as a juridical person subject to Corporate Tax: 0% on taxable income up to AED 375,000 and 9% above (Cabinet Decision No. 116 of 2022). Approved Family Foundation status under Art. 17 changes that.

A foundation the FTA approves under Art. 17 of Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022 to be treated as an Unincorporated Partnership, which is not a Taxable Person in its own right. It must serve identified or identifiable natural persons or a public benefit entity, do nothing that would be a Business if done by its founder or beneficiaries, and not exist mainly to avoid Corporate Tax.

Yes, within limits. If a transfer was meant to defraud a creditor and left the founder insolvent, the foundation meets the claim from that property (Art. 14(3)-(4)); set-aside actions have three years (Art. 53A(1)). A founder's later bankruptcy alone does not undo a transfer (Art. 14(2)), and foreign heirship rights over a living person's movables or DIFC land are not recognised (Art. 15).

ADGM's registry fees are lower: US$200 to incorporate (US$500 with data protection) and US$200 a year, against the DIFC's Nil and US$350 plus AED 20. ADGM requires a registered company service provider for non-exempt foundations and a council of at least two, and leaves the guardian optional during the founder's lifetime; in the DIFC the Registered Agent is optional.

We draft the charter and By-laws around the founder's objects, settle the registered office before the portal submission and test the Family Foundation conditions before the Corporate Tax registration, all from our own Dubai office.