Recognition of foreign family foundations in Switzerland

Abstract

Swiss Family Foundations are not commonly used for asset protection or estate planning purposes due to a de facto prohibition of family maintenance foundation. Since families are often spread over different countries and continents and assets are located in various jurisdictions, contributions of assets to a foundation may very well be an optimal solution, also because these assets no longer fall within the scope of the estate. For this purpose, foundations are set up in jurisdictions like Liechtenstein.