FFF-Legal

Trusts

A trust exists where a trustee holds, as owner or has vested in him property under an obligation to deal with that property for the benefit of the beneficiaries.  Beneficiaries of a trust may include persons not yet ascertained or in existence.  The trustee has full powers as well as a duty to manage, administer and represent the trust property in accordance with the terms of the trust and the laws governing trusts.  The trust property is distinct and separate from the personal property of the trustee and from other property held by the trustee under any other trust.

Trusts create fiduciary obligations upon the trustee in favour of the beneficiary of the trusts whilst the settlor shall have no rights in relation to trust property.

There are no restrictions as to how a trust may be formed; a trust may be formed in any manner – unilaterally (a declaration in writing by the trustee) or otherwise by oral declaration, or by an instrument in writing including by a will, by operation of law or by a judicial decision:

Where assets are held, acquired or received by a person for another on the basis of oral arrangements of a fiduciary nature, there shall be presumed to be a mandate regulated by the relevant provisions of the Civil Code.

Foundations

A Foundation is an organization consisting of a universality of things constituted in writing, including by means of a will, by a founder or founders whereby assets are destined either for the fulfillment of a specified purpose; or for the benefit of a named person or class of persons, and are entrusted to the administration of a designated person or persons. The patrimony, namely assets and liabilities, of the foundation is kept distinct from that of its founder, administrators or any beneficiaries.  Foundations are therefore created according to the directions found in a will or other contract.  A private writing or an oral declaration does not suffice to bring the foundation into existence.  Once they are created foundations, unlike trusts, are endowed with a separate juridical personality.