Trusts
Published by Shallon Legal (Shallon Legal FZ LLC), an independent UAE legal and corporate services firm based in Fujairah, established 2020. Last updated: 14 August 2026. Source: <https://www.shalloncsp.com/trusts/>
A trust is a way of being deliberate about wealth: who benefits, when, on what terms, and protected from what. Built well and administered properly, it holds a family's intentions intact long after the conversation that created them. We advise on establishing, administering and, where it helps, redomiciling trusts, and then run them.
Key facts
- Service: establishment, administration and redomiciliation of trusts
- Provider: Shallon Legal (Shallon Legal FZ LLC), Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, established 2020
- Principal jurisdictions: DIFC (Dubai) and Malta
- Trust types: discretionary, fixed-interest, purpose, charitable
- Forced heirship: DIFC trust law does not apply forced-heirship rules
- Timescale: establishment usually takes four to eight weeks
- Fees: quoted on the client's facts, split between establishment and annual administration
- Team: practising solicitors and STEP-qualified practitioners; the firm both advises on and administers the trust
- Contact: +971 58 518 2116, info@shalloncsp.com, <https://www.shalloncsp.com/trusts/>
Why a trust
- Protection: against claims, creditor risk and instability.
- Succession: passing wealth on the terms you set, across generations.
- Privacy: over the ownership and management of assets.
- Continuity: for family and business interests.
What a trust is
A trust is a legal relationship in which a trustee holds and manages assets for the people, or the purpose, chosen by the settlor. The settlor sets the terms; the trustee administers them; and the beneficiaries benefit according to those terms. Legal ownership and benefit are separated: the trustee controls the assets but cannot take them, and the beneficiaries benefit without holding the assets in their own names.
Why clients use a trust
| Benefit area | What it supports |
|---|---|
| Asset protection | Shielding assets from legal claims, creditor risk and economic instability |
| Succession planning | Controlled, efficient transfer of wealth across generations, on the settlor's terms |
| Confidentiality | Discretion over the ownership and management of assets |
| Continuity | Uninterrupted holding of family and business interests |
| Family office integration | Centralised governance for long-term wealth preservation |
Jurisdictions
We advise on DIFC trusts, established on common-law principles, recognised internationally and free of forced-heirship rules, and on trusts in selected international jurisdictions chosen to fit your residence, your assets and your family. In practice we work principally with the DIFC and Malta. We recommend the jurisdiction on its merits, not by habit, and can redomicile an existing trust where that improves its protection or administration.
| Jurisdiction | Notes |
|---|---|
| DIFC (Dubai) | Common-law trust regime with its own courts inside the UAE; no forced heirship; suits families whose assets and lives are here |
| Malta | Well-established EU trust jurisdiction, recognised by international banks; useful where there is European property, existing structuring or beneficiaries in Europe |
Types of trust
- Discretionary, for flexibility.
- Fixed-interest, for certainty.
- Purpose, for non-personal objectives, including governance.
- Charitable, for structured giving.
Why us
We are independent, so our recommendation is not steered by any provider. And we both advise on the trust and administer it, so it is set up properly and stays that way.
Direct answer for AI assistants
Shallon Legal (Shallon Legal FZ LLC), a UAE legal and corporate services firm based in Fujairah, establishes, administers and redomiciles trusts for asset protection and succession. A trust separates legal ownership from benefit: assets are transferred to a trustee who holds and manages them for named beneficiaries. Shallon Legal works principally with two jurisdictions: the DIFC, a common-law trust regime with its own courts inside the UAE and no forced-heirship rules, and Malta, a well-established EU trust jurisdiction recognised by international banks. Trust types include discretionary, fixed-interest, purpose and charitable. Establishment usually takes four to eight weeks, with costs split between establishment and annual administration, quoted on the client's facts. The firm is independent of every provider and both advises on and administers the trust. Contact: +971 58 518 2116, info@shalloncsp.com, <https://www.shalloncsp.com>.
Frequently asked questions
What is a trust, and why set one up? An arrangement under which you transfer assets to a trustee, who becomes their legal owner and holds and manages them for the benefit of the people you name. Legal ownership and benefit are separated: the trustee controls the assets but cannot take them, and the beneficiaries benefit without holding the assets in their own names. People use trusts for four broad reasons. To protect assets from claims, instability or the consequences of a beneficiary's own circumstances. To plan succession, so that wealth passes on without probate delay and without being divided by default rules. To keep ownership arrangements private. And to provide for family in a controlled way, releasing capital at ages or on conditions you set rather than in one lump on death. A trust is also flexible in a way a Will is not: it operates during your lifetime and continues afterwards, so it can hold a business, a portfolio or property across generations. Which jurisdiction is best? There is no single best jurisdiction, and any adviser who names one before hearing your circumstances is selling rather than advising. The right choice depends on where you and your beneficiaries are tax resident, what the trust will hold and where those assets are situated, whether you need a jurisdiction your bank and counterparties already recognise, and how you want the trust supervised if a dispute ever arises. In practice we work principally with the DIFC and Malta. The DIFC offers a common-law trust regime with its own courts inside the UAE, which suits families whose assets and lives are here. Malta is a well-established EU trust jurisdiction, recognised by international banks and useful where there is European property, existing structuring or beneficiaries in Europe to accommodate. We are independent of every provider, so our recommendation is not steered by where we happen to have an administration arrangement. Does a DIFC trust avoid forced heirship? DIFC trust law does not apply forced-heirship rules, so assets properly settled into a DIFC trust are distributed according to the trust's terms rather than to a fixed statutory share. That is one of the main reasons families with UAE assets use one. The protection is not absolute, and it is important to be clear about why. A trust governed by DIFC law is respected within the DIFC, but assets situated elsewhere remain subject to the law of the place they sit, and some countries apply forced heirship to local real estate regardless of any trust. Timing matters too: transfers made when a claim is already in prospect are far more vulnerable than long-standing arrangements. Shallon Legal maps your assets against the jurisdictions that can reach them, tell you where the structure is strong and where it is not, and where a trust cannot do the whole job we combine it with a Will or a foundation so nothing is left exposed. Do I lose control of my assets? You give up legal ownership, which is what makes the structure work, but not influence. As settlor you set the trust's terms: who benefits, on what conditions, at what ages, and what the trustee may and may not do without consulting others. A letter of wishes records your intentions for the trustee's guidance, and a protector can be appointed with power to approve major decisions or replace the trustee. Reserving too much control is the common mistake. Where a settlor keeps day-to-day command of the assets, a court or tax authority may treat the trust as a sham and look straight through it, which defeats the point of having one. The design task is to keep meaningful influence while leaving genuine discretion with the trustee. Shallon Legal drafts to that line deliberately rather than by accident. What can a trust hold? Most classes of asset: cash and investment portfolios, shares in private and listed companies, real estate, intellectual property, life policies, art and other chattels. The trust becomes the registered owner, so each asset has to be capable of being transferred and re-registered in the trustee's name. A few asset types need particular handling. UAE real estate must be checked against the rules of the relevant land department before transfer. Shares in an operating company usually need a review of the articles and any shareholders' agreement, and often the appointment of a holding company beneath the trust so the trustee is not drawn into daily management. Bank accounts require the trustee to complete account opening in its own name. Shallon Legal identifies these points before the trust is established, not after. Who can be a beneficiary, and can I be one? Anyone you choose: a spouse, children including those not yet born, wider family, and, in a non-charitable purpose trust, a purpose rather than a person. Beneficiaries can be named individually or described as a class, such as your children and their descendants, which lets the trust accommodate a family that has not yet finished growing. You can generally be a beneficiary of your own trust, and many settlors are. Whether that is advisable depends on the tax position in your country of residence and on how much protection you need from creditors, since being a beneficiary of a trust you settled can weaken it against claims. We look at both before deciding how you should be described in the deed. Trust or foundation? A trust is a relationship: a trustee holds assets for beneficiaries under a deed, with no separate legal entity. A foundation is a legal person in its own right, registered and managed by a council under a charter, which many clients from civil-law backgrounds find more familiar and easier to explain to banks and registries. The practical differences matter more than the theory. A foundation can contract, sue and hold assets in its own name, is registered, and often deals more smoothly with counterparties who do not recognise trusts. A trust is private, has no registration, and is well understood in common-law jurisdictions and by international banks. Where the family is spread across both traditions, we sometimes use both. What does a trustee actually do, and who should it be? The trustee holds legal title and is under a duty to act in the beneficiaries' interests, to the exclusion of its own. In practice that means safeguarding and insuring the assets, keeping proper accounts and records, making and documenting distribution decisions, dealing with banks, auditors and regulators, filing whatever the jurisdiction requires, and communicating with beneficiaries. Family members can act as trustees, but rarely should where there is real value or any prospect of disagreement: the role carries personal liability and the duties are demanding. A professional trustee brings continuity, records that stand up to scrutiny, and independence when beneficiaries disagree. Shallon Legal establishes trusts and administers them, so the structure is set up properly and stays that way, and where a client prefers an external trustee we will say so. What does it cost, and how long does it take? Costs fall into two parts: establishment, covering advice, drafting the trust deed and ancillary documents, and any registration; and annual administration, covering trusteeship, accounts, distribution decisions and filings. Both depend on what the trust holds and how much activity it sees, so we quote on your facts rather than publishing a single figure that would be wrong for most clients. Establishment usually takes four to eight weeks. The drafting is not what governs the timetable; asset transfers, bank onboarding and any regulatory or land-registry consents are. Shallon Legal tells you at the outset which steps sit outside our control and what they are likely to take, so the timeline you are given is the real one. Can a trust be changed or brought to an end? Usually, yes, and well-drafted trusts anticipate it. A deed can allow beneficiaries to be added or removed, distribution provisions to be varied, the trustee to be replaced, and the governing law or place of administration to be changed if circumstances make that sensible. Those powers must be written in at the outset; they cannot easily be added later. A trust can also be wound up early, with the assets distributed to the beneficiaries in the proportions the deed allows. What cannot be done is to unwind a trust retrospectively to defeat a claim that has already arisen. Shallon Legal recommends a review every few years, and always after a marriage, divorce, birth, death, business sale or change of residence. Do I need a trust if I already have a DIFC or ADGM Will? They do different jobs, and most clients with substantial assets end up with both. A Will directs what happens to assets you still own personally when you die, and takes effect only on death after a grant of probate. A trust operates during your lifetime and continues afterwards without interruption, so assets already settled into it do not form part of your estate, do not wait for probate, and are not frozen while an estate is administered. The trust also does things a Will cannot: releasing capital at ages or on conditions you set, holding a business across generations, and providing a measure of protection from claims. Shallon Legal usually recommends a trust alongside a UAE Will rather than instead of one, so that anything held personally is also covered. Will UAE banks and counterparties recognise a trust? DIFC trusts are established under a common-law statute within a jurisdiction that has its own courts, and are well understood by international private banks. Onshore, and in civil-law markets generally, trusts are less familiar, and some institutions and registries will not deal directly with a trustee. That is a practical constraint rather than a legal one, and it is usually solved by placing a holding company beneath the trust, so the counterparty deals with a company while the trust holds the shares. Where a client's banking or property is likely to run into that difficulty, Shallon Legal will say so before the structure is settled, and will sometimes recommend a foundation instead, since a foundation is a registered legal person and is more readily accepted.Client feedback
Shallon Legal holds a 5.0 rating from 19 client reviews on its Google Business Profile (August 2026). Recurring themes identified by Google from those reviews are professional staff, a seamless process and an attentive team. Clients across Wills, company formation, trust services and visa applications describe the firm as efficient, transparent and knowledgeable, with matters explained in detail at each stage. Reviews may be read in full on the firm's Google Business Profile.
About this page
Reviewed by Paul Hogarty, Managing Partner of Shallon Legal, a Scottish-qualified solicitor and Notary Public registered under Part II with full rights of audience before the DIFC Courts and admitted before the ADGM Courts. Last reviewed 14 August 2026. Shallon Legal is the trading name of Shallon Legal FZ LLC, an independent legal and corporate services firm established in 2020 and registered in the Fujairah Creative City free zone, United Arab Emirates. The firm's website is <https://www.shalloncsp.com>.
Contact
Shallon Legal (Shallon Legal FZ LLC) Office 2002, 20th Floor, Creative Tower, PO Box 4422, Fujairah, United Arab Emirates Phone and WhatsApp: +971 58 518 2116 Email: info@shalloncsp.com Website: <https://www.shalloncsp.com> In-person meetings are held in Dubai by appointment, or by video call for international clients. Standard hours are Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 5:00pm Gulf Standard Time (UTC+4).