Services · Trusts & private foundations

Jersey foundation

Updated 6 October 2026

A Jersey foundation is a legal person with a council, a charter and a guardian. We select the licensed council member, prepare the documents and review the family's taxes first.

A Jersey foundation is established under the Foundations (Jersey) Law 2009. Unlike a trust, a foundation is a legal person: the assets belong to the foundation itself, not to a trustee. Foundations are registered by the registrar of the Jersey Financial Services Commission, and the law allows any lawful objects: private, charitable or both.

Families choose a Jersey foundation when they need a structure with a council and a charter that continental banks and lawyers understand, in a jurisdiction with an English-style court tradition. Below: how a foundation is structured, who runs it, what beneficiaries get, how it is taxed and how it is set up.

How a foundation is structured

• Charter. It sets out the name, the objects, the initial endowment, the term and the winding-up rules. The objects must be lawful: to benefit a person or class of persons, to carry out a specified purpose, or both. Beneficiaries need not be named; the charter can set out how they are determined.
• Regulations. A separate document with the rules for the council, the appointment of the guardian and their remuneration. Regulations are mandatory by law.
• Legal personality. Once registered, the foundation owns assets, signs contracts and opens accounts in its own name.

Who runs the foundation

The assets are administered by the council. The council must include a qualified member: a company registered under the Financial Services (Jersey) Law 1998 to carry on trust company business. It applies for incorporation, and its Jersey business address becomes the foundation's address. Without such a member a foundation cannot be set up.

The second mandatory participant is the guardian, who makes sure the council follows the charter and regulations. Apart from the founder and the qualified member, nobody may be both a council member and the guardian, so control and management stay separate.

The founder has only the rights set out in the charter and regulations, for example to change beneficiaries or to consent to major decisions. These rights can be assigned. If the founder dies, the rights pass to the guardian unless the foundation's documents say otherwise.

What beneficiaries get

A beneficiary has no interest in the foundation's assets, and the council owes them no fiduciary duty. If a person has become entitled to a benefit under the charter or regulations and it is not provided, they can apply to the Royal Court of Jersey within 3 years of becoming aware of the entitlement.

A foundation is not required to give anyone, including beneficiaries, information about its assets, administration or distributions unless the law, a court or its own documents require it. This sets it apart from a trust, where beneficiaries can usually ask for accounts.

Taxes

Revenue Jersey explains that if a foundation's income is taxed in Jersey at 0%, the Comptroller, by concession, does not tax a distribution to a beneficiary who is not resident in Jersey. If the foundation's income was taxed at 10% or 20%, it is not taxed again either, but the non-resident cannot claim a refund of the Jersey tax suffered.

Jersey residents should seek pre-clearance from the tax office first. Otherwise the Comptroller treats the foundation as created to avoid tax and applies Article 134A of the Income Tax (Jersey) Law 1961. For everyone else the main question is tax in the countries where the founder and beneficiaries live: rules on controlled foreign structures and foundation distributions there are often stricter than in Jersey. We work this out before the foundation is set up.

Foundation or trust in Jersey

A foundation suits cases where a bank or counterparty needs a legal person with a charter and a council, and the family wants to limit beneficiaries' rights to information. A trust is more flexible and more familiar in common law countries. If you are still choosing, compare it with a Jersey trust.

How a foundation is set up

1. Reviewing the goal. We define the objects, the beneficiaries and the tax position in the family's countries of residence, and choose between a foundation and a trust.
2. Qualified council member. We select a licensed Jersey trust company. It checks the founder, the source of funds and the origin of the assets.
3. Documents. We prepare the charter and regulations and appoint the guardian and council members.
4. Registration. The qualified member applies to the registrar, who may refuse an application, for example if the objects or name do not comply with the law.
5. Assets and accounts. We transfer the assets, open an account and keep track of the annual administration fee, whose payment is shown in the register.

Why foundations are refused

• the trust company will not take on a client without a verified source of funds;
• the objects are unlawful or worded so that the registrar refuses registration;
• no guardian is appointed, or the council breaches the rules on combining roles;
• a bank will not open an account because of the countries linked to the founder or an unclear ownership chain.

Who a Jersey foundation suits and who it does not

A Jersey foundation is chosen by families from civil law countries who are more used to a charter and a council than to a trust arrangement, but want the English court tradition and strong financial supervision. It suits a family holding, passing a business to children and charitable aims, when it matters that the assets belong to an independent legal person.

A foundation does not suit those who want to run everything alone: a qualified council member and a guardian are mandatory, and decisions follow the charter and regulations. It is also expensive for modest wealth: the council's work is paid every year.

Can a Russian citizen set up a Jersey foundation in 2026

Jersey applies a sanctions regime aligned with the UK's. Since 16 December 2022 it has been prohibited to provide trust and similar services to persons connected with Russia, primarily those living in Russia, and since 21 March 2023 the restrictions have extended to everyone on the UK sanctions list. Citizenship by itself does not count as such a connection: a Russian citizen who lives and pays tax in another country can be a founder, but the qualified council member will check them especially carefully. We check the status of the founder and beneficiaries before drafting the charter.

Taxes for Russian tax residents

For a Russian tax resident, a Jersey foundation is a foreign organisation. If the founder keeps the right to influence how assets are distributed or to change beneficiaries, they may become a controlling person of the foundation: the tax office is then notified of it every year, and its profit may be taxed in Russia under the controlled foreign company rules. Russia has no double tax treaty with Jersey. Distributions from the foundation are taxed in the recipient's country of tax residence. We prepare notifications and reporting on the controlled foreign companies page.

What it costs and how long it takes

The charter and regulations are drafted in days and registration after filing is quick, but the whole process usually takes several weeks: the qualified council member first checks the founder and the origin of the assets. A trust on the same island is compared on the Jersey trust page.

What we do

We compare a foundation and a trust for your goal, select the qualified council member, prepare the charter and regulations, agree the guardian, assemble the source-of-funds file and open the account. The cost depends on the assets and beneficiaries, so a manager will calculate it in the chat after a short review.

What we do

• Foundation registration and maintenance

FAQ