Wealth preservation by using trusts or private foundations in a civil law environment

Abstract

Abstract The article describes the use of trusts and private foundations as well as the cultural and legal differences between the two legal instruments. The problems and opportunities arising from any legislative measure that introduces the trust in a civil law jurisdiction will be addressed. The article will focus primarily on the Principality of Liechtenstein. While Liechtenstein is a typical civil law jurisdiction that has embedded partly the Austrian and partly the Swiss legal tradition, a unique trust regime was enacted as early as 1926. On the contrary, the Swiss legislature has never created its own legal instruments for private wealth structuring. Swiss practitioners have relied on foreign tools, such as the Liechtenstein foundation and the Liechtenstein trust. Currently an academic and political debate is underway in Switzerland regarding the introduction of genuinely Swiss vehicles for private wealth structuring. What lessons can be learned from the almost 100 years of Liechtenstein experience?