Setting Up a Trust in Liechtenstein

Yes. The reform, LGBl. 2026 Nr. 12, has been in force since 1 July 2026 and defines charitable and private-benefit trusts. A private-benefit trust must name at least one information-entitled person and a successor, in the deed or a supplementary deed. The trust itself remains available as before.

Register entries are public, but the application lists the trust, its date and duration, the trustee and any Repräsentant, with no settlor or beneficiary data. Supporting documents can be inspected only by someone who makes a legitimate interest credible. A deposited deed is seen only by the depositor and the person authorised.

The trust is an entity listed in the beneficial-owner act and reports its beneficial owners to the Office of Justice. External access to that register has been limited since the cyberattack of 30 July 2026. Who may see a trust's data beyond that is not settled in our sources, so we state no more.

No. Forming trusts for others and taking on trusteeships by way of business need an FMA licence under the Trustee Act, and acting without one is an offence. We prepare and coordinate the file; the licensed trustee, named in your engagement letter, accepts the trusteeship and performs every reserved act.

If no trustee is a resident person or a legal entity seated in Liechtenstein, a Repräsentant must be appointed under PGR Art. 239. It is an EEA national permanently resident in Liechtenstein, or a domestic legal entity that itself names such a person. The licensed trustee provides or arranges the mandate.

We give criteria, not a recommendation. A Treuunternehmen needs a trust fund of at least CHF 30,000 and is formed with or without legal personality. The register base fee is CHF 300 for a trust and CHF 700 for a Treuunternehmen. Foundation criteria are on our foundation page.

An existing charitable trust is notified to the supervisory authority by its trustee within six months, by 31 December 2026, and entered in the register if its deed was only deposited. An existing private-benefit trust has 18 months, to 31 December 2027, to name an information-entitled person and a successor.

The person is named in the deed or a supplementary deed. It can be the settlor, a beneficiary (not in a purpose trust) or another person the settlor chooses. If no valid person is named, the trustee applies to the court within three months for an auditor. For a charitable trust, the supervisory authority holds the role.

This page states no tax result. Whether the Tax Act's rule for special asset dedications without legal personality (SteG Art. 65) covers a particular trust is an open question. Tax advice is a trustee activity, so the answer for your trust comes from a licensed trustee, if needed through a tax ruling request.

The trustee identifies the contracting party and the beneficial owner and asks for information on the origin of the assets, under the due-diligence act. You then confirm the data recorded in the forms by signature or an equivalent procedure. We collect the documents and pass the file to the trustee.

Yes. A trust under foreign law may be set up in Liechtenstein under PGR Art. 931. The foreign rules are written into the trust deed, and disputes are decided by a mandatory arbitral tribunal. Which foreign rules to use is a drafting decision you take with the licensed trustee or lawyer.

A trust ends as its deed provides, and also when the trust property is lost and nothing replaces it. A court may dissolve a trust in non-contentious proceedings. During its life, a trustee who breaches the trust documents is personally liable to the settlor with its whole property.

The settlor may place any part of their assets under a trustee and set the conditions, including a reversion to the settlor or their successors. Creating the trust does not replace the form rules for transferring each asset, for example land or shares. Our sources hold no list of excluded assets.

The law sets no time for the whole set-up, only for single steps: 30 days to register or deposit, three months to apply for an auditor. Official fees are CHF 300 to register or CHF 300 to deposit the deed, plus CHF 30 for a Repräsentant. Our fee is on request.