Family office services in India: structure, succession and compliance
Family office services in India cover the people, entities and paperwork that look after one family's wealth. India has no separate family office law, so each office is built from trust law, company law, tax, SEBI rules and FEMA. VIVS Legal handles that legal side: the structure, the trust deed, the succession plan, the family agreement and the compliance checks.
We do not recommend investments. That stays with you and your SEBI-registered adviser. Meet us at our Sanpada-Vashi office in Navi Mumbai, or by video call from anywhere.
Last updated 8 November 2026 · VIVS Legal, Sanpada-Vashi, Navi Mumbai
Legal lead: Adv. Swanand Pandit, Advocate, High Court of Bombay
- Who it suits
- Promoter families, families after a business sale, NRI families and professionals with assets in several names
- Main structures
- Private family trust, private company, LLP, or a mix; GIFT City fund for some families
- Main laws
- Indian Trusts Act 1882, Companies Act 2013, LLP Act 2008, Income-tax Act 2025, SEBI regulations, FEMA 1999
- SEBI registration
- Not needed for a family office as such, but outside money or paid advice can trigger it
- Who leads
- Adv. Swanand Pandit, Advocate, High Court of Bombay
- Fees
- Contact us
On this page
What a law firm does for a family office
A family office usually needs three kinds of help: investment advice, accounts and tax, and legal work. We do the third. Our family office legal services work alongside the people doing the first two.
| Work | What we do | Read more |
|---|---|---|
| Setting up | Compare structures, draft constitutional documents, check SEBI and RBI triggers | Setting up a family office |
| Family trust | Draft and register the deed, transfer assets, advise trustees | Family trust in India |
| Succession | Align wills, nominations, shareholdings and trusts | Estate and succession planning |
| Dividing assets | Family settlement deed or memorandum, registration advice | Family settlement deed |
| Governance | Family constitution, and making its key rules binding | Family constitution |
| Cross-border | FEMA, overseas assets, NRI and OCI members | Family offices for NRI families |
| GIFT City | Legal review of a Family Investment Fund | Family Investment Fund |
New to the idea? Start with what a family office is or the comparison of single and multi family offices.
What we do not do
We do not recommend funds, shares, asset allocation or products, and we do not manage money. We are a law firm, not a SEBI-registered investment adviser or portfolio manager. If your question is about returns or suitability, we will say so and send you back to your adviser.
We can read the agreements your adviser or fund asks you to sign. Our notes on PMS, AIFs and structured products explain what we look for.
Which laws apply to a family office in India?
The term "family office" does not appear as a regulated category. SEBI said in a press release of 3 October 2025 that it was not pursuing a separate framework at that time. So the obligations come from whichever structure and activity you choose.
| If the office | Then check |
|---|---|
| Holds assets in a trust | Indian Trusts Act 1882, Registration Act 1908, state stamp law, trust taxation under the Income-tax Act 2025 |
| Runs through a company or LLP | Companies Act 2013 or LLP Act 2008, annual filings, RBI's NBFC test if the main business is financial |
| Advises or manages for outsiders for a fee | SEBI (Investment Advisers) Regulations 2013, SEBI (Portfolio Managers) Regulations 2020 |
| Pools money from outside the family | SEBI (Alternative Investment Funds) Regulations 2012 |
| Holds assets abroad or has NRI members | FEMA 1999, Overseas Investment Rules 2022, RBI's Liberalised Remittance Scheme, foreign asset disclosure |
Sources: SEBI, RBI and India Code.
When is it worth setting one up?
The law sets no minimum wealth. The question is whether the family's affairs have outgrown one person's memory. These are the usual signs:
- Assets sit in many names and nobody has the full list
- A business has been sold, or a large sum is about to come in
- The next generation is joining the business, or does not want to
- Members live in different countries
- The family depends on one elder who holds all the papers
Market commentary often puts a full staffed office at ₹100 crore or more of family wealth. That is a practitioner's view on cost, not a legal rule. A smaller family can get most of the protection from a good will, a trust where it is needed and a written family agreement, without any office at all. We will tell you if that is your position.
Documents to bring
- A list of family assets: property, shares, business interests, bank and investment accounts, in India and abroad.
- Existing wills, trust deeds, HUF papers, partnership deeds and shareholders' agreements.
- A family tree with the residential status of each member (resident, NRI, foreign citizen).
- Company shareholding and board details for family businesses.
- Any earlier family settlement or court order.
What decides the fee
- Structure advice only, or drafting and registration as well.
- How many family members, entities and countries are involved.
- Tax advice is given with your chartered accountant and is separate.
- Government charges (stamp duty, registration fees, court fees) are paid at actuals, separately from our fee.
We quote in writing once we have seen the papers. Call +91 8291849797 or book a consultation.
Who leads this work
Family office matters are led by Adv. Swanand Pandit, Advocate, High Court of Bombay and director of VIVS Legal. He holds an LL.M from Mumbai University and has a background in fraud investigation, risk management and compliance across the financial sector.
Your papers stay with the small team working on them. Tell us at the start who in the family may receive updates. Call +91 8291849797 or +91 9167710454, or use the contact page.
This page is general information, not legal advice. Tax points must be confirmed with your chartered accountant, and rules change, so we check the current text before acting on your matter.
Frequently Asked Questions
Still have a question?
Speak with our legal team about your matter with clarity and confidence.
Not simply for being a family office. Registration can apply to the activity: giving investment advice for a fee, managing portfolios for others, or pooling money from people outside the family. A single family managing its own money generally stays outside these rules, but this has to be checked against your facts.
No structure suits every family. Trusts are often used to hold assets and plan succession, while a company or LLP often runs operations or holds investments. Many families use a mix. The right answer depends on the assets, the members' residence, the tax result and who should have control.
No. We handle legal structure, documents and compliance. Investment decisions stay with you and your SEBI-registered adviser.
Yes. We work by video call and email, and documents signed abroad can be notarised or apostilled for use in India. See our page on family offices for NRI families.
Yes. We work with families elsewhere in India by video call and email. Tell us the city and the assets, and we will confirm how the work would run.
Please contact us. Fees depend on the assets, the number of documents and whether registration is needed, so we confirm them after a first look at your matter.
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