What is a family foundation under Polish law?

Publication date: November 12, 2025

A family foundation is a relatively new institution in Polish law, introduced two years ago by the Act of January 26, 2023, on Family Foundations. The ability to establish such an entity was introduced primarily to enable entrepreneurs to secure the succession of their businesses in an undivided form, as well as to ensure the implementation of their own vision for managing them even longer after the founder’s death. Only a natural person with full legal capacity can be the founder of a family foundation. They can establish the foundation and designate its beneficiaries—themselves, relatives, or public benefit organizations—in their will or deed of incorporation. Both deeds should be executed by a notary. Unlike an Anglo-Saxon trust, a family foundation is not a legal relationship but a separate legal entity. Upon establishment, it acquires legal capacity and becomes a so-called “imperfect legal person.”

Tax benefits

Some use foundations to reduce, or rather optimize, their tax liabilities. According to the Corporate Income Tax Act, a foundation is exempt from, among other things, corporate income tax (CIT) if it conducts business activities. However, permissible business activities are defined by the framework set forth in Article 5 of the Family Foundation Act. Permitted forms of activity include:

– disposal of property, unless the property was acquired solely for the purpose of further disposal;

– renting, leasing or making property available for use on another basis;

– joining commercial companies, investment funds, cooperatives and entities of a similar nature, having their registered office in the country or abroad, as well as participating in these companies, funds, cooperatives and entities;

– acquisition and sale of securities, derivative instruments and rights of a similar nature (and others).

Establishment of the Family Foundation

According to the law, the establishment of a family foundation requires:

1) submitting a declaration of establishment of a family foundation in the founding act or in the will;

The documents should be in the form of a notarial deed.

2) establishing a statute that

*mandatory includes:

-name of the family foundation;

-seat of the family foundation;

-detailed purpose of the family foundation;

– the beneficiary or the method of defining it and the scope of the beneficiary’s rights;

– rules for maintaining the list of beneficiaries;

– rules, including detailed procedures, for waiving rights by the beneficiary;

-duration of the family foundation, if specified;

-value of the founding fund;

– the principles of appointment and dismissal, as well as the rights and obligations of members of the bodies of a family foundation, as well as the principles of representation of the family foundation by the management board or by other bodies of the family foundation in cases specified in the Act;

– entity authorized to approve the activities of the management board of a family foundation in the organization;

-principles of amending the statute;

– the allocation of the property of a family foundation after its dissolution, including the designation of the beneficiary entitled to the property in connection with the dissolution of the family foundation.

*may additionally contain:

– principles of cooperation or collaboration between the bodies of a family foundation;

– detailed circumstances of the dissolution of the family foundation;

– guidelines for investing the assets of a family foundation;

-provide for the establishment of a field unit or field units.

3) preparing an inventory of property which includes:

– Property rights contributed by the founder or persons other than the founder to the family foundation, with the indication of the person contributing the property and the specification of the type and value of each of the contributed property components, in the amount determined according to the condition and prices at the time of their contribution and their tax value,

-determination of the proportions used to determine the PIT exemption

– a list of property contributed to the family foundation to cover the founding fund.

4) establishing the bodies of the family foundation required by law or the statute;

– the Act enumerates: the management board, the supervisory board and the meeting of beneficiaries.

– The management board is appointed, unless the statute provides otherwise, by the founder and, after his death, by the supervisory board. In the absence of a supervisory board, the election is made by the meeting of beneficiaries. The management board’s duties include:

• managing the affairs of the family foundation and representing it;
• realization of the goals of the family foundation specified in the statute;
• taking actions related to ensuring the financial liquidity and solvency of the family foundation;
• creating, maintaining and updating the list of beneficiaries in accordance with the provisions of the Act and the principles contained in the statute;
• informing the beneficiary about the benefit he or she is entitled to;
• fulfillment of the benefit to which the beneficiary is entitled.

– A supervisory board is not mandatory if there are 25 or fewer beneficiaries. Unless the statute provides otherwise, the appointment and dismissal of supervisory board members is made by the founder, and after the founder’s death, by the meeting of beneficiaries.

5) contribution of the founding fund

 before entering the family foundation register in the case of establishing a family foundation in the founding act, or contributing the founding fund within two years from the date of entering the family foundation in the family foundation register in the case of establishing a family foundation in a will;

– the founding capital is specified in the statute, but cannot be lower than PLN 100,000

– the sole person obliged to contribute assets to cover the founding fund is the founder.

– property contributed to the founding fund cannot be returned.

– A foundation account may be established outside the territory of the Republic of Poland . This is not subject to restrictions in the European Union. Outside the EU, using such an account will constitute foreign exchange transactions and therefore require a foreign exchange permit from the President of the National Bank of Poland or a director authorized by him.

6) entry into the register of family foundations.

-The register of family foundations is maintained by the District Court in Piotrków Trybunalski, hereinafter referred to as the “registry court”.

-the proceedings are generally conducted in accordance with the provisions on non-contentious proceedings,

– the application for entry is submitted by submitting the foundation to the register by the founder or the board in the case of a foundation established in a will

-The application should include

• name of the family foundation, its registered office and address;
• the amount of the founding fund of the family foundation;
• names and surnames, PESEL numbers of the management board members, and in the absence of an obligation to have such a number – date of birth, and their addresses for correspondence, as well as the manner of representing the family foundation;
• names and surnames, PESEL numbers of the members of the supervisory board, and in the absence of an obligation to have such a number – date of birth, and their addresses for correspondence, if a supervisory board is established in the family foundation, if a board has been established at all;
• names and surnames, PESEL numbers of beneficiaries who are natural persons who are members of the group of beneficiaries, and in the absence of an obligation to have such a number – date of birth, and their addresses for service, and in the case of the beneficiary being an entity other than a natural person – name or company name and REGON identification number, and if the entity is registered in the National Court Register – also its number in that register;
• name, surname and correspondence address of the founder, if the founder is entitled to appoint the management board;
• duration of the family foundation, if specified.

-The following must be attached to the registration of a family foundation in the register of family foundations:

– the foundation’s founding act or the protocol of opening and announcing the will in which the foundation was established;

-statute

– a declaration by the founder about contributing property to cover the founding fund, and in the case of establishing a family foundation in a will – a declaration by the members of the management board that the founding fund will be contributed within two years from the date of entering the foundation in the register;

– proof of establishment of the foundation’s bodies, specifying their composition, if the composition of the family foundation’s bodies does not result from its statute

– consent to serve as a member of a family foundation body.

The notification is subject to the payment of a fee of PLN 500 in accordance with Article 64 a of the Act of 28 July 2005 on court costs in civil cases ( i.e. Journal of Laws of 2025, item 1228, as amended ).

*Before entry in the register, a company does not have legal personality, so its obligations are the responsibility of the founder or his or her representative. This responsibility ceases upon approval of their actions by a resolution of the management board.