In many countries, the pay-as-you-go retirement provision system provided by the state is the only way of providing provision for retirement. However, as time goes on, this system is proving less and less likely to provide a comfortable life in retirement. Most people today still hesitate to think about what would happen with their property after death (or in the event of any other critical situation), and so they make no attempt to bring their own financial circumstances in order, with the aim of making this task easier for descendants or loved ones. In many cases, establishment of a foundation is a reliable means of solving the problems connected with provision for retirement mentioned above.

Establishment of a foundation requires that property  (property of a foundation) be dedicated for a specific purpose. The founder is free to define the purpose of the foundation. It must be specific, possible and reasonable, and have neither illegal nor immoral content.

Examples of intended purposes include:

• Payment of individual amounts to family members for maintenance, upbringing, education and provisions
• Arrangement of recurring payments to individual, specifically named beneficiaries, and distribution of the property of the foundation to these beneficiaries when the foundation is dissolved

In addition to the property of the foundation, foundation establishment requires the foundation instrument, in which the founder imposes essential information and regulations such as name, foundation purpose and duration, appointment of the board of trustees, circle of beneficiaries and provisions regarding the use of the property of the foundation in the case of dissolution. The foundation instrument normally contains regulations of principles, while type and scope of beneficiary designation and circle of beneficiaries are specified in bye-laws or rules. In addition, the foundation is often founded by a trustee, so that the name of the founder does not appear in the foundation instrument. The foundation instrument or any bye-laws must also give information about how changes can be made to the charter and bye-laws.

A big difference in foundations in Liechtenstein as compared to other foundations lies in the fact that the founder, in the statutes, may reserve revisions to foundation statutes and bye-laws to him- or herself. The founder may also always reserve power of revocation on his or her own behalf. In this case, the foundation may be revoked at any time at the discretion of the founder. The property of the foundation then becomes the founder's property once more.

An overview of our services:

• Consultation in matters of proper jurisdiction and corporate form for the protection of your property and its succession plan
• Working out possible variants for foundation structure
• Establishment of a foundation and assumption of mandate as board of trustees
• Preparation of all necessary documents and their transmission to authorised representatives