Family Office
Our expertise in Family Office in Monaco
With our knowledge of business and private wealth, we assist our clients in the organisation, management and transfer of their assets, both nationally and internationally, in particular:
- Organisation of professional or personal assets in the context of the search for legal security or tax optimisation;
- Transfer of companies;
- Inheritance planning using all appropriate legal tools (in particular companies, donations, trusts, future protection mandates, etc.) and including private international law matters;
- Assistance to individuals in all administrative procedures required for their settlement in the Principality of Monaco: residence permit applications, setting up companies, post-authorisation procedures.
Our services for residence permit applications :
We assist our clients with the necessary administrative procedures at all stages:
- Obtaining the required settlement visa
- Collecting all the required documents
- Completing the application form
- Preparing for the preliminary interview
- Renewing the residence permit at its expiry date.
We also accompany the applicant - whose presence is mandatory - to the interview with the inspectors of the Residents' Section of the Direction de la Sûreté Publique (Public Safety).
Our firm can also take care of coordinating the procedures inherent in settling in the Principality, such as renting or purchasing accommodation, concluding various contracts (electricity, water), enrolling minor children in school, hiring domestic staff, etc.
We ensure the follow-up after the requests by acting as a link between the administration and the client, in particular by transmitting any additional information that may be required.
Our services for setting up companies in Monaco :
Our aim is to offer our clients a “tailor-made” service, allowing them to concentrate their efforts on the commercial aspects of their project's development.
Whatever the planned activity, we assist and advise our clients during the different stages of the creation of the legal entity:
- Choosing the legal form
- Drafting the statutes
- Defining the corporate purpose
- Drafting the legal documentation
- Gathering the documents required for the examination of the authorisation request by the Direction de l’Expansion Economique and, if necessary, by any other relevant authority.
We also carry out all the "post-authorisation" procedures required by law:
- Registration with the Répertoire du Commerce et de l’Industrie (RCI - Trade and Industry Register)
- Publication formalities
- Declaration of the activity to the Direction des Services Fiscaux (Tax Services)
- Membership of social organisations, etc.
If necessary, we collaborate with the various professionals in the marketplace to find a registered office and open a bank account.
For activities that are not commercial in nature, it should be noted that the creation of a non-trading company under Monegasque law does not require prior authorisation. The formalities for setting up are therefore simplified.
Here again, we offer our clients "turnkey" solutions for the development of personal projects involving real estate, assets, etc.
Monaco Law
Residence permit
Any natural person aged 16 or over who wishes to take up residence in the Principality of Monaco or who wishes to stay there for more than three months a year must apply to the competent authorities for a “Carte de séjour” (residence permit).
As part of the Extended Monaco programme, the Principality has introduced a digital identity with probative value for residents. The digital residence card with an electronic memory, issued by the Directeur de la Sûreté Publique (Public Safety), is both a residence permit and a digital identity that the holder can use on the MConnect Mobile application to carry out online procedures.
A “Certificat de résidence” (residence certificate), which attests to actual residence in the Principality, can be issued to complete a Monegasque administrative formality.
A residence certificate may also be issued to fulfil a tax formality, in particular in the context of the reporting obligations in relation to the automatic exchange of tax information on financial accounts (introduced by Sovereign Order n° 6.208 of 20 December 2016).
The regime applicable to the residence certificate was recast by Sovereign Order 8.372 of 26 November 2020.
Creation of a company
With the exception of Monegasque nationals, the exercise of any commercial, craft, industrial or liberal activity in the Principality of Monaco is subject to prior authorisation from H.E. the Minister of State, whether the activity is carried out in a personal capacity or in a company.
Certain activities subject to regulation may also require specific authorisation (banking and financial activities, real estate, legal and accounting activities, etc.).
In order to better meet the expectations of residents and businesses, the Extended Monaco programme has modernised the operation of public services by developing e-government.
Recent developments
Law no. 1.492 of 8 July 2020 introduced the right to a bank account for people domiciled or in the process of setting up in Monaco, and the obligation to open an account in a credit institution in Monaco for individuals exercising a professional, craft, commercial or industrial activity (for the purpose of exercising their professional activity), as well as for any public limited company, general partnership, limited partnership with shares or limited liability company (exclusively for the purpose of exercising their professional activity).
A proposed law aims to make the right to an account more effective.
Holders of a foreign driving licence must apply to have it exchanged for a licence issued by the Service des Titres de Circulation during the year following the acquisition of their "normal residence" in the Principality, which is defined as "the place where a person usually lives, i.e. for at least 185 days per calendar year, because of personal and professional ties, or, in the case of a person with no professional ties, because of personal ties revealing close links between himself and the place where he/she lives". (Sovereign Order 10.111 of 14 September 2023).
Law n° 1.562 of 2 July 2024 created subsidiary medical cover (subject to a charge) of the State for foreign nationals who have been residing in the Principality on a stable and regular basis for at least 5 years, who are not covered by any Monegasque or foreign health insurance organisation and who would be refused an individual health insurance policy with insurers operating in Monaco.