There is a growing interest of wealthy families in stewarship ownership planning, which stems from developments in society and an increased awareness on the wise long-term use of wealth in a modern society, following long-standing examples in the North European culture.
In the common law part of the world, these developments are driven by international financial centres with a quick adaptive mind, now followed by discussions on the development of trust law more generally. In the classic European foundation legislations, pure stewardship planning is stretching the legal limits as well and most often, the most likely option is the use of the strictly regulated charitable foundation.
Ineke describes in this new publication in Trusts & Trustees, June 2022 issue, the distinct approaches from a comparative and Dutch perspective that historically allows a self-serving or purely stewardship ownership structure. When set up adequately, these foundations would not be subject to anti-abuse legislation that applies to discretionary private foundations for family-centered purposes.