But the popularity of family foundations also has a dark side.
As interest grows, mistakes appear — and they are costly mistakes. Foundations are established based on minimal statutes, without a well-thought-out succession plan, without considering the real needs of beneficiaries. Foundations are created primarily for tax reasons, which lose their meaning with the first change in regulations.
With Gemini Advisor, we support entrepreneurs throughout the entire process of establishing family foundations – from the initial succession discussion, through drafting the articles of association, to ongoing legal services. From this perspective, I want to share what truly determines whether a family foundation will fulfill its role.
The most common mistake in the process of establishing a family foundation occurs even before anyone reaches for the bylaws. It consists of reversing the order of thinking.
Many entrepreneurs start with the question: „How to set up a family foundation?”
The right question is: „What do I want to achieve for my family and my estate?”
This distinction is of fundamental importance. A family foundation is a tool—a very flexible and powerful one, but always subservient to a purpose. If there is no purpose, the tool will not help.
In practice, success objectives that most often appear in discussions with entrepreneurs can be divided into several categories:
Protection of Asset Unity. Family business owners often worry that after their death, the estate will be divided among heirs, which could mean the need to sell shares, real estate, or liquidate the company. A family foundation allows the estate to remain in a single structure and be managed according to pre-established principles.
Financial security for the family. The foundation can be designed to regularly disburse benefits to beneficiaries—for education, medical treatment, or ongoing needs—regardless of the operational company's fate.
Generational succession planning. The foundation allows the founder to specify who will take control of the assets after their death and under what terms, without the need to relinquish control during their lifetime.
Limiting the risk of family conflicts. Clearly formulated rules for the distribution of benefits, voting, and decision-making reduce the risk of disputes among family members after the grantor's death.
Only once the purpose is clear can the foundation’s structure—its bylaws, governing bodies, and list of services—be designed to achieve that purpose. And only at the very end does the issue of tax optimization arise as an additional benefit resulting from a well-designed structure.
The status of a family foundation is more than just a formal attachment to a registration application. It is a document that for years—and often decades—will regulate the principles of the foundation's operation, define the rights and obligations of beneficiaries, specify the powers of the bodies, and set the boundaries of what the foundation can and cannot do.
And that's why the quality of articles of association is so important.
One of the most common mistakes we observe in practice is establishing a family foundation based on a very simple, minimal statute—prepared solely with the aim of submitting a registration application as quickly as possible.
This approach is tempting in its simplicity: quickly, efficiently, and then—if necessary—we'll change it. The problem is that the original text of the statute applies until the foundation is registered. And registration currently takes an average of 14–15 months.
For these dozen or so months, the foundation has operated as an entity within the organization — with all the legal and financial consequences that entails. If something unforeseen happens during this time — the founder's illness, their death, a sudden need to make a key financial decision — an underdeveloped statute can prove to be a serious problem.
There is no possibility of making operational changes to the statute before registration. Founders who assumed they would „fix it later” discover that „later” might not be until the second half of next year.
A good family foundation statute should be a well-thought-out document, tailored to the founder's specific family and financial situation. There is no single universal template, but there is a set of issues that every statute should address clearly and comprehensively.
Purpose of the foundation. The statute should precisely define why the foundation was established—what values it is to protect, what needs it is to meet, and over what time horizon. This is not a formality—the foundation's purpose sets the interpretative framework for all other provisions.
Beneficiaries and their participation rules. Who is the beneficiary, from when, under what conditions, and to what extent – these are some of the most important decisions a founder makes when designing a foundation. We will return to this in more detail later in the article.
Benefits catalog. What benefits can a foundation provide to beneficiaries, in what form (monetary, in-kind, services), on what terms, and in what circumstances. A well-designed catalog of benefits should consider the various life stages of beneficiaries and the different situations that may arise.
The organs of a foundation and their powers. Who manages the foundation, who exercises oversight, who makes decisions—and in what manner. The statute should clearly delineate the competencies between the board, the supervisory board (if established), and the assembly of beneficiaries.
Rules for decision-making after the founder's death. This is one of the most difficult, yet most important elements of the project. What happens to the foundation when the founder is no longer around? Who takes over their role? Which decisions require unanimity, and which require a simple majority?
Limitations and safeguards. The statute may introduce various types of restrictions — for example, a prohibition on disposing of certain assets without the consent of indicated persons, a requirement to obtain the opinion of the supervisory board before making strategic investment decisions, or mechanisms to protect assets from hasty decisions.
Designing the beneficiary catalog and benefits system is one of the most difficult, yet most important, elements of establishing a family foundation. This is where the founder answers the question: for whom does this foundation exist, and what is it meant to give them?
The Family Foundation Act grants the founder significant freedom in determining who can be a beneficiary. A beneficiary can be an individual - either a family member of the founder or someone outside the family - as well as a non-governmental organization pursuing a public purpose.
In practice, the beneficiaries are most often: the founder's children and grandchildren, spouse or partner, siblings, and sometimes the founder themselves (who can be a beneficiary of their own foundation).
The key decision is whether all potential beneficiaries are named in the charter itself, or if the charter only defines categories of people (e.g., „founder's descendants”) who may become beneficiaries based on a separate list of beneficiaries.
A family foundation allows for the differentiation of beneficiary rights—not all beneficiaries have to have the same entitlements. The founder can decide that:
— One beneficiary is entitled to regular cash benefits, while another is only entitled to benefits in specific situations (e.g., illness, purchase of an apartment). — Some beneficiaries have the right to vote at the beneficiaries' assembly, while some participate only as observers. — A beneficiary's rights depend on meeting certain conditions — for example, completing studies, not operating a business competitive with companies associated with the foundation, or reaching a certain age.
This last solution is particularly often used in practice. Many founders decide that the younger generation will gain full beneficiary rights only after turning 25 – not upon reaching the age of majority. This stems from the belief that managing family wealth requires a certain maturity that is not automatically acquired on one's eighteenth birthday.
One of the biggest advantages of a family foundation is the ability to design a catalog of benefits in a way that meets the real needs of beneficiaries at different stages of their lives.
Children and adolescents. At this stage, benefits related to education (tuition fees, textbooks, extracurricular activities), development (language courses, sports, hobby clubs), as well as general maintenance and medical care, most commonly appear.
Young adults — studies and first steps in their careers. Currently, benefits can include funding for studies (in Poland and abroad), professional courses and training, internships and apprenticeships, as well as – increasingly common – support for purchasing a first home or starting one's own business.
Adult beneficiaries. This group more often includes benefits related to treatment and rehabilitation, temporary inability to work, support at the birth of a child, or the development of one's own business projects.
Senior beneficiaries. For beneficiaries who have reached a certain age (e.g., 60 or 65 years), it is worth providing periodic benefits intended for current private and health needs - something akin to a private family pension.
A practical solution worth considering in every charter is to leave room for additional benefits – granted in special situations that cannot be foreseen at the stage of foundation creation. Life writes different scenarios, and the foundation should have the ability to respond to the family's real needs, not just those that the founder could imagine at the moment of signing the founding act.
A family foundation is a unique succession tool for one fundamental reason: it allows the founder to retain control over their assets not only during their lifetime but also after their death.
In practice, family foundation statutes are very often structured in such a way that the founder retains full or dominant control over the foundation and its assets during their lifetime.
The founder may reserve the right to:
— appointment and dismissal of management board and supervisory board members, — granting consent for key asset-related decisions (e.g., sale of real estate, sale of company shares, incurring liabilities exceeding a specified amount), — independently changing the list of beneficiaries and the catalog of benefits, — modifying the charter within a specified scope.
This makes a family foundation a tool that allows for the gradual preparation of the succession process—without the need to immediately hand over control of the business and assets to the next generation. The founder can still be the decision-making center while simultaneously building a structure that will function after their departure.
What sets a family foundation apart from other succession tools is the ability to transfer the founder's will to the foundation's ongoing years of operation—even after their death.
The statutes can precisely define:
— Who manages the assets after the founder's death — who sits on the board, who exercises supervision, who has veto power on certain decisions. — Does the estate remain in one structure — the founder may decide that after their death, the foundation's assets will not be divided among heirs, but will remain in a common structure managed according to established principles. — What decisions require unanimity — in particularly important matters (e.g., disposal of a key asset, amendment of the articles of association, dissolution of the foundation) the consent of all or a majority of the beneficiaries may be required. — Conflict resolution mechanisms the statute may provide for mediation or arbitration procedures in the event of disputes between beneficiaries.
This is where the founder of a family foundation has the opportunity to answer a question that many entrepreneurs avoid their entire lives: What do I want to happen to what I've built when I'm gone?
A family foundation also proves to be a tool for consciously preparing the next generation to take responsibility for the assets. In practice, this happens in stages:
Stage one – observation. The younger generation participates in beneficiary gatherings without voting rights. They learn the foundation's operating principles, decision-making processes, and the family's core values.
Stage two — advisory vote. The founder's successors can participate in discussions about assets and investments, but they do not yet have the formal right to make decisions.
Third stage - participation in bodies. Upon reaching a certain age or fulfilling other conditions specified in the statutes, the younger generation enters the assembly of beneficiaries and gains a real influence on decisions.
Stage four — shared responsibility. Gradual takeover of foundation and asset management — at a pace suited to the successors' maturity and readiness.
This model avoids one of the most serious risks of family succession—the sudden and unprepared transfer of power to individuals who lack the experience or knowledge necessary to manage significant assets.
A family foundation can be the central element of a succession plan, but it should not be treated as the sole tool. In practice, a well-designed succession combines several instruments that complement each other.
Will. Even if the family foundation is registered and endowed with assets, the founder's will remains an important document — especially with regard to assets that were not contributed to the foundation during their lifetime. It is not uncommon for founders to decide to contribute a significant part of their assets to the foundation precisely in their will, which means that the target value of the foundation's assets will be significantly higher than at the time of its registration.
Power of attorney in the event of death. This is a relatively new tool in Polish law that allows designating a person authorized to manage the enterprise in the event of the owner's death. Combined with a family foundation, it can ensure the continuity of the company's operations at the most difficult moment—before the foundation's bodies take full control.
Corporate documents. The agreements of companies affiliated with the foundation should be adapted to the planned succession structure. The articles of association of a company in which the family foundation is a shareholder may contain provisions protecting against a hostile takeover, regulating the rules for appointing the management board, or restricting the possibility of disposing of shares.
Agreement on the reserved portion of an estate. One of the most frequently overlooked yet crucial elements of succession planning is the issue of the forced share. Transferring assets to a family foundation does not eliminate forced share claims—it can only modify or postpone them. It is worth ensuring this issue is properly regulated during the founder's lifetime.
Honest consulting regarding family foundations requires acknowledging that this is not a solution for everyone.
A family foundation works best when:
— the estate is complex and significant — it includes shares in companies, real estate, and investment portfolios, — the succession is multi-generational — the founder is thinking not only about transferring assets to their children, but about protecting them for the next 50 or 100 years, — there is a real risk of family conflict — the foundation can impose a framework that will limit disputes, — the founder wants to retain influence over the estate while gradually involving the successors.
A family foundation may not be the right solution when:
— the estate is relatively simple and small — the costs of establishment and ongoing management may outweigh the benefits, — the succession is one-off and straightforward — e.g., transferring the company to a single child who is already actively involved in the business, — the main motive is tax benefits — these can change, and a foundation based solely on this foundation will lose its purpose with the first amendment to the regulations.
After three years of the family foundation act being in force, one thing is certain: this tool has huge potential. But this potential is only realized when the foundation is well designed.
What determines whether a family foundation will fulfill its role?
First — a clear goal. The foundation must be an answer to a specific question about the future of the family and assets — not a tool looking for a problem to solve.
Secondly — a well-thought-out statute. A document that is not a minimal form, but a true family wealth constitution—regulating what will happen in a year, a decade, and a generation.
Thirdly, a well-designed benefits system. Tailored to the actual needs of beneficiaries at various stages of life, flexible enough to respond to unforeseen situations.
Fourth, the planned succession within the foundation. Clear rules on what happens after the founder's death — who manages, who decides, and how conflicts are resolved.
Fifthly — time. A family foundation best fulfills its function when it is not created under the pressure of sudden events. The average age of a founder in Poland is 52—it is precisely when one is still professionally active that succession is best planned.
At Gemini Advisor, we help entrepreneurs navigate this process in a thoughtful way tailored to their individual situation. If you are considering a family foundation or want to discuss succession — Feel free to contact me.
attorney at law Adrian WalczakGemini Advisor
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. If you have questions regarding a specific legal or financial situation, we encourage you to contact us directly.
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