Trusts, foundations, and estate planning through an MFSA-authorised trustee — for private clients and families structuring and protecting wealth across borders.
Our fiduciary services are delivered by specialists through group company Premier Fiduciary and Trusts Limited, authorised by the Malta Financial Services Authority under the Trusts and Trustees Act (Chapter 331 of the Laws of Malta) to act as trustee and to provide fiduciary services. We advise settlors, families, and corporate clients on trusts, private foundations, and estate planning — and on how these structures fit within wider cross-border arrangements for asset protection, succession, and international wealth structuring.
A civil-law jurisdiction that legislated a complete, common-law-style trust regime — and backed it with mandatory authorisation and active supervision of trustees.
Discuss Your StructureMalta is unusual among European jurisdictions in offering both trusts and foundations under one legal system. The Trusts and Trustees Act — largely modelled on Jersey's respected codification of English trust law — governs the creation of trusts and the mandatory authorisation of trustees, while the Civil Code provides for foundations with legal personality of their own. For international families, the instrument can be chosen to fit the assets, the family and the jurisdictions involved, rather than forced by what local law happens to offer.
How a Malta trust is created, who does what, and how long it can run — from first advice to ongoing trusteeship.
A trust is a legal arrangement where a settlor transfers assets to a trustee, who holds and manages them for the benefit of designated beneficiaries. Malta's Trusts and Trustees Act provides a robust framework recognised across common and civil law jurisdictions. Three roles define every trust: the settlor creates it and settles property into it, during their lifetime or by will; the trustee takes legal title and is bound to deal with the property solely for the beneficiaries or a permitted purpose; the beneficiaries hold the beneficial interest and the right to hold the trustee to account. A protector may also be appointed with defined supervisory powers — a common comfort for settlors placing assets with a professional trustee for the first time.
The trust itself has no legal personality. Property is held and administered through the trustee — but it is segregated by law from the trustee's personal estate, beyond the reach of the trustee's own creditors and unaffected by the trustee's insolvency.
We handle the full establishment process including drafting of the trust deed, appointment of Premier Fiduciary and Trusts Limited as trustee, and structuring the trust to meet your asset protection and succession planning objectives. In practice, the work runs in five stages:
We start with the family and the assets, not the document — what the trust should achieve, for whom, over what horizon, and how it interacts with the tax and succession rules of each jurisdiction involved.
The deed records the terms — beneficiaries or purposes, trustee powers, any protector, and any powers the settlor wishes to reserve — drafted with legal counsel where the structure crosses borders.
As a regulated trustee we complete source-of-wealth and source-of-funds checks on the settlor and the assets before accepting appointment.
Assets are transferred to the trustee — shares, property, portfolios or cash — with the transfer formalities completed for each asset class.
Accounting, records, distributions and periodic reviews for the life of the trust, in accordance with the deed and applicable law.
Premier Fiduciary and Trusts Limited acts as a licensed professional trustee, ensuring independent and compliant administration of trust assets in accordance with the trust deed and applicable law. Trusteeship is a fiduciary office, not a filing service: the trustee must act with the diligence of a prudent administrator, avoid conflicts of interest, keep trust property strictly segregated, maintain proper records and account to the beneficiaries. Our administration covers trust accounting, distributions, beneficiary communications and coordination with investment managers and advisors — supported by the group's accounting and tax compliance team.
A Malta trust may last for up to 125 years, with exceptions for charitable trusts and certain other categories — long enough to plan across generations rather than transactions. Maltese law also permits a settlor to reserve certain powers or interests without invalidating the trust, within limits: a trust in which the settlor effectively keeps full control may fail to achieve its purpose, in Malta or anywhere else. Where control matters, we design the balance deliberately — reserved powers, a protector, a letter of wishes — each has a role, and each has limits that deserve advice before settlement, not after.
A trust is a genuine transfer: the settlor parts with legal ownership, and the trustee's duty runs to the beneficiaries. Making sure that reality suits the family is the most important conversation in any trust engagement — we have it at the design stage.
Most Malta trusts exist for an old-fashioned reason: to pass wealth to the next generation in an orderly, protected way.
A family trust holds property settled by one or more family members for the benefit of the family and its dependants, administered under the terms of the deed. It keeps a business, a property portfolio or an investment pool intact across generations — rather than fragmenting with each inheritance — and provides continuity of management when the founder steps back.
A trust can operate alongside a will — or, in some circumstances, in place of one. Assets settled during the settlor's lifetime pass under the terms of the deed, with continuity and privacy, and with less friction where heirs and assets sit in different countries. Cross-border estates raise forced-heirship and conflict-of-law questions we work through with counsel in each relevant jurisdiction.
Segregation is inherent to a trust: property validly settled leaves the settlor's personal estate and is held by the trustee for the beneficiaries. Used legitimately — planning ahead, for genuine succession and protection objectives — it is a lawful, well-recognised shield against future uncertainty. It is not a device for defeating existing creditors or obligations, and no reputable trustee will accept a settlement designed to do so.
Trusts are long-established tools for providing for children or family members who cannot manage assets themselves — releasing income and capital for education, care or emergencies at the trustee's discretion, under terms the settlor sets. For families requiring consolidated oversight across several structures, our multi-family office extends the same discipline.
Trusts are not only private-wealth instruments. In Maltese commercial practice, security trusts hold collateral in lending and capital-markets transactions — and the Qualified Person role connects foreign trustees to Malta.
A security trust is a specialised arrangement where assets are held by a trustee as collateral to secure obligations owed to one or more creditors. It is commonly used in lending, bond issuance, and structured finance transactions. Maltese law allows security to be created in favour of a trustee for the benefit of creditors — present or future, or a class of creditors — with the security remaining in force even where the trustee is later replaced. In a secured bond issue, the security trustee holds the security over the issuer's assets for the whole body of bondholders and can enforce it on their behalf, instead of every holder appearing on the security documents and acting individually. Similar structures appear in ship finance, syndicated lending and securitisation — areas we also serve through our capital markets and maritime practices.
We structure and establish security trusts tailored to the underlying transaction, drafting the security trust deed and coordinating with legal counsel, lenders, and counterparties to ensure enforceability.
Premier Fiduciary and Trusts Limited acts as an independent security trustee, holding collateral on behalf of secured parties and administering enforcement procedures in accordance with the trust terms.
Through Premier Fiduciary and Trusts Limited, we act as Qualified Person under the Trusts and Trustees Act — principally required where a foreign trustee, or a non-professional local trustee, holds immovable property situated in Malta or shares in a Maltese company. The Qualified Person provides the Malta-regulated point of contact for such holdings.
A civil-law vehicle with legal personality of its own — often the natural choice for families from civil-law jurisdictions.
A Malta foundation is an independent legal entity established to hold and manage assets for specified purposes or beneficiaries. Governed by the Second Schedule to the Civil Code, foundations offer a civil law alternative to trusts with full legal personality. Once registered, a foundation holds assets in its own name, contracts in its own name and is liable for its own obligations — distinct from its founder, administrators and beneficiaries. It may passively hold income-producing assets such as shareholdings and immovable property, and in defined circumstances may be used for collective investment or securitisation purposes, subject to conditions and any applicable licensing.
Maltese law recognises two forms. A private foundation is established for the benefit of a named person or class of persons — typically a family. A purpose foundation is established to fulfil a specified purpose, which may be philanthropic or public-benefit in nature. Governance requirements differ between the two, including the composition of the board of administration, and the right form depends on what the foundation is meant to achieve.
We manage the complete formation process including drafting of the deed, notarial registration, and structuring the foundation as either a public or private entity to suit your wealth planning and succession objectives. A foundation is created by public deed during the founder's lifetime, or by will, stating its name, purposes, registered address, endowment and board of administration, and is registered with the Registrar for Legal Persons at the Malta Business Registry. A modest minimum endowment applies — lower for public-benefit foundations — with current requirements confirmed at consultation.
Our team provides ongoing foundation administration, including compliance with statutory obligations, preparation of accounts, and coordination with auditors and regulatory authorities on behalf of the foundation. Administrators of Maltese foundations are subject to fiduciary obligations — keeping the foundation's assets distinct from their own and from the founder's, maintaining proper records and acting within the foundation's statute at all times.
We assist with the orderly winding-up of foundations, managing the distribution of remaining assets to beneficiaries, settlement of liabilities, and completion of all regulatory deregistration requirements.
Both hold assets away from personal ownership for the benefit of others. The differences decide which fits — legal personality, governance, and how each is constituted and perceived.
A legal relationship, administered through the trustee
None — trust property is held through the trustee, segregated by law from the trustee's own estate.
Trustee bound by fiduciary duties under the deed and Cap. 331; a protector may supervise defined decisions.
Families comfortable with the common-law tradition; flexible, discretionary provision for beneficiaries across generations.
The trust deed is not filed on a public register; oversight operates through the authorised trustee, with beneficial-ownership and reporting obligations applying as required by law.
Up to 125 years, with exceptions — and trusteeship can change hands without disturbing the trust fund.
A legal person, owning its assets
Separate legal personality on registration — the foundation owns assets and contracts in its own name.
A board of administrators bound by fiduciary obligations and the foundation's statute; the founder may retain a defined role.
Founders from civil-law jurisdictions where a legal person is more readily recognised; holding arrangements that want an entity rather than a relationship.
Registered as a legal person with the Malta Business Registry; day-to-day administration remains private, subject to disclosure obligations under applicable law.
Governed by the foundation's statute within limits set by law — administration continues independently of the founder.
The choice is rarely obvious and never purely legal — recognition in the family's home jurisdictions, tax treatment at settlor and beneficiary level, and reporting all pull on the answer. We set out both instruments side by side before anything is signed, subject to legal and tax advice on the specific facts.
Regulated holding of assets in our name, on your instructions — with beneficial ownership unchanged and every duty owed to you.
We provide regulated nominee services for clients who require an additional layer of confidentiality in the holding of assets. Our nominee arrangements cover the holding of shares, assets under mandate or deposit, and the execution of instructions on behalf of beneficial owners, all within a fully compliant and transparent framework. In a fiduciary arrangement, ownership does not pass to the holder: the fiduciary holds the asset in its own name, under mandate or deposit, and acts only on the instructions of the beneficial owner. Maltese law imposes strict duties on fiduciaries — good faith, segregation of fiduciary assets from the fiduciary's own, record-keeping and accounting — and assets held on a fiduciary basis do not form part of the fiduciary's personal estate. Fiduciary shareholding is commonly used alongside our company incorporation and management services.
Escrow is the temporary limb of the same discipline. An asset or funds are held by an independent third party pending a defined trigger — completion of a sale, satisfaction of conditions, delivery of an asset — and released strictly under the terms of the escrow agreement. Ownership never vests in the escrow holder. We support escrow arrangements in the context of corporate and commercial transactions, with the mechanics, responsibilities and release conditions recorded in a bespoke agreement, subject to onboarding and due diligence.
Outcomes depend on where the settlor, the beneficiaries and the assets are. The framework is flexible — but it must be applied to facts.
The Maltese tax treatment of a trust or foundation is not one rule but a set of alternatives, and the analysis starts with residence — of the settlor or founder, of the beneficiaries, and of the assets themselves. In broad terms, and strictly subject to advice on the specific facts:
Nothing here is tax advice. Every structure we establish is preceded by written tax analysis on the specific facts, coordinated with advisors in each jurisdiction involved.
Fiduciary work is judged over decades, not quarters — and a trust or foundation rarely stands alone.
There is usually a company beneath the structure, accounts to prepare, a family relocating, or a transaction to complete. Because zeta. combines an MFSA-authorised trustee with an Authorised Company Service Provider, accounting and payroll, and residency advisory under one roof, the structure — and everything around it — is administered by one team that knows the whole picture.
Tell us what the structure should achieve — we will set out the right instrument, the design and the process, in plain terms.
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