— Foundation ownership · RAK ICC, DIFC and ADGM

Property held by a foundation.
Run by you.

Succession without courtthe estate passes under the foundation charter
The register shows the foundationyour name is not on the title deed
Protection from claimspersonal creditors have no easy route in
No tax in the UAEnone on income, none on capital gains, none on inheritance. This does not remove taxes in your country of residence — check with your own tax adviser

We find a home that rents from 7% a year (gross yield before costs; not guaranteed). Then we set up a foundation in RAK ICCiRAK ICC — the Ras Al Khaimah International Corporate Centre. Its own registry, English-style law, the cheapest of the three to establish., DIFCiDIFC — Dubai International Financial Centre, Dubai's financial centre with its own court and English-style law. More expensive, but more familiar to international banks. or ADGMiADGM — Abu Dhabi Global Market, the Abu Dhabi financial centre. Also common law, with its own registry and court. with a licensed provider and run the deal so the title is issued to the foundation from the outset.

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Who receives what, and in what share, is written into the charter in advance — the estate then passes under that document rather than through a court. The title deed shows the foundation, not your name. A licensed provider establishes the foundation and a law firm drafts the charter — we run the process and answer for the property itself: sourcing, the transaction and the letting.

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Above AED 10m of property we pay for the setup and the first year of administration.

Dubai's financial district at dusk: DIFC, Sheikh Zayed Road, Burj Khalifa
Dubai financial district · DIFC
— 01Who it suits

When the structure is justified.

— Offer

Establishment on us above AED 10m

If the aggregate value of the property you acquire with us exceeds AED 10,000,000, we pay for the establishment of the foundation and its first year of administration. We put that in writing before work begins, together with the provider's quote, so you see the full cost picture up front.

— 02Yield and portfolio

Property should work, not sit.

The ownership structure is half the job. The other half is making the property inside it earn, so the portfolio grows on its own.

Selected for yield

We look at an asset not only through the eyes of its future resident but through the rental arithmetic: location, unit type, seasonality, what neighbours actually achieve.

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The portfolio benchmark is from 7% a year.

Letting and tenant turnover

We take on finding the tenant, the contract and Ejari, move-in and move-out, and the replacement when they leave.

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There should be no gaps between tenants — gaps are exactly where projected yield turns into actual yield.

Rotating assets

Once an asset has run its growth cycle, selling and replacing it pays better.

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We plan the exit strategy in advance, not after the yield has already slipped.

Buying more from the income

Rental income accumulates inside the foundation: it is either distributed to the beneficiaries or put towards the next asset.

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The portfolio grows while the titles stay in one structure — no new registrations in different names.

From 7% a year is a benchmark across the assets we work with, not a promise: the actual rate depends on the asset, the term and the market.

— 03What it is

What a foundation is, in plain terms.

It is a legal person in its own right. The foundation owns the assets, and a council you appoint runs it.

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A foundation has no shareholders and no shares — there is nothing to inherit, because the assets already belong to the foundation and who receives what is set by the beneficiaries named in its documents. One structure can hold several properties at once.

— What sits behind it

Succession under the charter

The estate passes to the beneficiaries exactly as written in the foundation charter — without UAE probate and without waiting on court decisions.

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For a family that is the difference between «come back in six months» and «take ownership». Terms are set decades ahead: who sits on the council, what happens across generations, how decisions get made.

Asset protection

Foundation assets are separated from the founder's personal obligations. This is not invisibility: reaching them is not impossible — just slower and harder.

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An asset bought into the foundation from the outset never belonged to you for a day — there is nothing for a personal creditor to reach. The protection is not absolute: what works is a structure set up in advance. That is why the foundation is opened before the purchase, not once it is needed.

The register shows the foundation, not you

The public title shows the foundation, not your name. For many owners this alone is the reason to build the structure.

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This is privacy, not concealment. The UAE does keep a beneficial ownership register: it is closed to the public but open to the authorities. The charter and the class of beneficiaries are not published in any of the three jurisdictions; how closed the council itself is depends on the jurisdiction and on how the foundation is set up. We work that through when the jurisdiction is chosen.

The UAE tax regime

The UAE levies no personal income tax, no capital gains tax and no inheritance tax. A family foundation that carries on no business pays no corporate tax either, once tax-transparent status is granted by the FTA.

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The foundation must register for corporate tax and separately apply to the FTA to be treated as tax transparent. If the application succeeds, income is attributed directly to the beneficiaries rather than to the foundation. None of this is automatic: the status comes from the FTA application, not from an adviser's opinion.

Property you already own can be moved in too

A transfer into your own foundation is processed as a gift — a Land Department fee that is usually 0.125% of value instead of the usual 4% on a re-registration. The reduced rate holds as long as the ultimate beneficial owner does not change; on top of the fee come valuation, trustee services and issuance of the title. We check whether it applies to your property before anything is started.

— 04How it works

From the first call to rental income — five steps.

Every step is executed by a licensed firm, while we run the process and align it with the transaction: the foundation has to be ready before the payment falls due.

STEP 01

Scoping and jurisdiction

We look at what exactly you are buying and who needs protecting: family composition, heirs, partners, plans for the portfolio. That drives the choice of jurisdiction, the council structure, and what goes into the foundation.

STEP 02

Establishment and charter

A corporate service provider registers the foundation; a law firm drafts the charter and by-laws. The provider quotes before anything starts — you see the figure before you sign anything.

STEP 03

Buying into the foundation

We run the transaction so that the Land Department issues the title directly to the foundation. This matters: buying in your own name and transferring later is a second transaction with its own fees.

STEP 04

Letting

We find the tenant, handle the contract and Ejari registration, run move-in and move-out, and replace the tenant when they leave. The rent arrives straight into the foundation.

STEP 05

Distributing the income

The council decides what happens to the money: distribute it to the beneficiaries or put it towards the next purchase. Annual administration and filings run alongside — we handle those with the agent.

— 05How it is built

Who is who inside the foundation.

Four roles. How they are distributed is the very setting the structure is built for.

Founder

The person who transfers assets into the foundation. Once transferred, the assets belong to the foundation, not to them.

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Powers can be reserved to the founder or left out entirely — that is written into the charter.

Council

Manages the foundation and represents it in full. It decides what the beneficiaries receive and when.

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The council usually includes the owner plus an independent member — a lawyer or a representative of the provider.

Guardian

For a family asset-holding foundation the role is optional.

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Where a guardian is appointed, the charter sets the powers — typically written consent is required to change the council, amend the charter or nominate beneficiaries. Most often the spouse.

Beneficiaries

Those who receive the income and the assets. The charter defines the class — usually the family, though it need not stop there at formation.

— 06What buyers ask

Common questions.

What does it cost?

For a RAK ICC foundation, formation and first-year administration run to around AED 16,500, and each renewal thereafter to around AED 11,000. An independent council seat is around AED 6,000 a year per seat. Figures include VAT, and RAK ICC government fees for registration and the annual licence are included. Non-standard resolutions, additional council meetings and tax reporting are charged separately at hourly rates. DIFC and ADGM foundations cost materially more — the provider quotes those for your configuration. We charge nothing separately for coordination.

How long does it take?

As a benchmark: the RAK ICC foundation itself is registered in about three working days once documents are filed, and the whole cycle including drafting the charter and gathering papers runs two to four weeks. DIFC and ADGM take longer — the registrar reviews documents more closely. The exact timing for your configuration is quoted by the agent, and we align it with the transaction so the foundation is ready before the payment falls due.

How is a foundation different from a company?

A company has shareholders and shares, and those shares are themselves inherited. A foundation has no shares: it owns the assets itself, and the recipients are named as beneficiaries. So a change of generation does not turn into a division of shares.

Can property I already own be moved into a foundation?

Yes. A transfer into your own foundation is processed as a gift: a Land Department fee of 0.125% instead of 4%, as long as the ultimate beneficial owner does not change. On top of that come valuation, trustee and issuance of the title.

Does a foundation give a residence visa?

No. The investor visa and the Golden Visa are granted to an individual owner, and an asset held in a foundation does not create that basis. The usual approach is to keep part of the portfolio in personal name for the visa and hold the rest in the foundation.

What happens once the property is in the foundation?

The foundation has to be maintained: annual administration, filings, changes to the council. In parallel we run the letting — finding and replacing tenants, rotating assets, buying more from the rental income.

Heart of the City is a licensed real estate brokerage (ORN 30550). We are not a law firm, a corporate service provider or a tax adviser, and we do not establish foundations. Structuring, drafting and registration are performed by licensed providers and law firms under their own licences. Establishment costs are quoted from the corporate provider's current price list and are confirmed by a quote for your configuration. From 7% a year is a benchmark across the assets we work with, not a promise: the actual rate depends on the asset, the term and the market. Nothing on this page is legal or tax advice.

Want ownership structured properly?
We'll lay out the steps.

Tell us what you are buying and who needs protecting — on the first call we work out whether you need a structure at all, and if so, which one. No obligation, no consulting fee.

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