- Licence needed
- No family office licence exists
- Common vehicles
- Private trust, private limited company, LLP, or a trust owning a company or LLP
- Regulatory triggers
- Outside clients, outside money, a mainly financial company, overseas assets
- Tax review
- Your CA should review clubbing, GAAR and trust tax before signing
- Fees
- Contact us
On this page
Family office structure in India: which one should you use?
| Point | Private trust | Private company | LLP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main law | Indian Trusts Act 1882 | Companies Act 2013 | LLP Act 2008 |
| Legal person? | No. Trustees hold title | Yes | Yes |
| Who controls | Trustees, under the deed | Board and shareholders | Designated partners, under the agreement |
| Succession | Written into the deed, no probate for trust assets | Shares pass by will or succession law | Depends on the LLP agreement and succession law |
| Routine filings | Tax returns; few corporate filings | Board meetings, MGT-7, AOC-4, audit | Form 8, Form 11, tax returns |
| Main drawback | Discretionary trusts can be taxed at the maximum marginal rate | Tax at company level, then again on dividends | Fewer settled rules on some transfers |
A common design has a trust at the top holding a company or LLP that runs operations. It keeps succession in the deed and day-to-day work in a body that can sign contracts and employ staff. It also adds cost, so use it only if the family needs both parts.
When do SEBI rules apply?
There is no SEBI family office licence, and no such thing as a SEBI registered family office as a category. A single family looking after its own money generally sits outside SEBI's registration rules. The picture changes when the office starts serving others:
- Advice for a fee: registration as an investment adviser may be needed under the SEBI (Investment Advisers) Regulations 2013.
- Managing others' portfolios: this is portfolio manager activity under the 2020 Regulations, which require net worth of ₹5 crore and a minimum client investment of ₹50 lakh.
- Pooling outside money: this can make the vehicle an AIF under the 2012 Regulations, with a minimum corpus of ₹20 crore per scheme and generally a ₹1 crore minimum investment.
The risk usually arrives quietly: a friend's family asks to come in, or a cousin's branch begins paying a fee. Check before accepting it. This is also the line between a single and a multi family office.
Could the holding company become an NBFC?
This is the check most guides leave out. RBI treats a company as carrying on financial business when financial assets are more than 50 percent of total assets and income from them is more than 50 percent of gross income. A family holding company full of shares and bonds can meet that test.
RBI's Core Investment Company directions may offer a route. A core investment company with assets below ₹100 crore need not register, and neither does a larger one that does not access public funds, provided it meets the conditions. Read the current RBI FAQ on NBFCs and directions, and take advice before the balance sheet tips over. Those directions were reissued in November 2025 and have been updated since.
Which tax and foreign exchange risks come up?
- Clubbing: income from assets you transfer to a spouse or minor child without adequate consideration, or to a revocable trust, can be taxed back in your hands.
- GAAR: a layered structure with no real commercial purpose invites challenge. Keep a dated note of why each entity exists.
- Trust tax: commentary on the Income-tax Act 2025 places private trusts in sections 302 to 308. Your CA should confirm the current sections and rates.
- FEMA: the Liberalised Remittance Scheme is USD 250,000 per resident individual per financial year, not per family. Company investment abroad falls under the Overseas Investment Rules 2022. See family offices for NRI families.
- PMLA: banks and intermediaries will ask who the ultimate beneficial owner is. Keep the records ready.
What should the documents include?
- Trust deed, or memorandum and articles, or LLP agreement
- Shareholders' agreement where more than one branch holds shares
- Family constitution with decision rules
- Wills that match the structure
- Authority letters for staff and advisers
- Asset register and a compliance calendar
Ready to begin? See our family office services, or call +91 8291849797 or +91 9167710454.
This guide 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.
Founder and Managing Partner, VIVS Legal. BLS, LL.B, LL.M, PGDBM, JAIIB.
