Family Office in Monaco: Rules, Costs and Tax in 2026
Monaco regulates multi family offices under Law No. 1.439 of 2 December 2016: the activity needs prior administrative authorisation by ministerial order, which can be granted only to Monegasque public limited companies (SAM) other than credit institutions, and approval from the Commission de Contrôle des Activités Financières (CCAF) for certain financial activities. Family office activities between members of a single family acting privately are outside that law. Residents pay no personal income tax (French nationals are the exception) and no wealth tax, and inheritance duty on Monaco-situated assets is 0% between parents and children and between spouses. [1, 2, 3]
Best for: Families who want to live in Monaco, where residents other than French nationals pay no personal income tax and inheritance duty is 0% between parents and children and between spouses, and who will run an office for their own family outside the multi family office law.
At a glance
| Licence | No SFO licence found; outside MFO Law 1.439; financial activities Law 1.338 not ruled out |
|---|---|
| Minimum wealth | No minimum family wealth in Law 1.439, which excludes one family's own office |
| Who counts as family | Members of a single family acting privately; the law does not define 'family' |
| Serving several families | Ministerial order, SAM only; CCAF approval for some financial activities |
| Law and courts | Codified Monegasque law (Civil Code, 2017 PIL Code); CCAF approves finance firms |
| Substance | MFO: SAM with EUR 150,000 capital, at least 2 directors, insurance; no SFO rule found |
| Holding vehicles | SAM, SARL, SURL, civil companies, foreign-law trusts; foundations for general interest |
| Corporate tax | 25% (since 2022) for commercial or industrial firms with over 25% of turnover outside Monaco |
| Family office tax | No family office regime; new businesses exempt for 2 years; no wealth tax |
| Personal income tax | No personal income tax for residents, except French nationals (1963 convention) |
| Inheritance tax | Monaco assets only: 0% parents, children, spouses; 8% siblings; up to 16% for others |
| Wills and succession | Children are reserved heirs; a reserve under the deceased's national law is kept |
| Residence | Residence permit with Monaco housing and a Monaco bank reference; no official amount |
| Time to set up | No official figure found |
| Official fees | RCI EUR 100 (SA or SCA) or EUR 75 (civil company); residence permit EUR 80 to 160 |
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Licence and who qualifies
How is a family office licensed in Monaco?
No licence or registration specific to a single family office was found. Article 1 of Law No. 1.439 of 2 December 2016 says the law does not cover 'family office activities between members of a single family acting privately' (activités de family office entre membres d'une seule famille à titre privé), and the 2015 government bill said single family offices are not concerned and that a family keeps the option of a dedicated structure under the general rules for economic activities in Monaco; incorporating an SAM, for example, needs administrative authorisation (Law No. 1.573 of 8 April 2025, Article 11). Separately, Law No. 1.338 of 7 September 2007 requires CCAF approval for activities such as portfolio management, or reception and transmission of orders, for third parties carried out on a habitual or professional basis; its only exemption covers firms acting solely for the legal entities that control them and the entities those control, and no source opened says whether an office managing the assets of one family's members falls under it. [1, 5, 6, 7]
What is the minimum wealth for a family office in Monaco?
No minimum family wealth in Law No. 1.439, which does not apply to family office activities between members of a single family acting privately; no wealth threshold for a single family office was found in the sources opened. A company used for the office has its own capital rule (EUR 150,000 minimum share capital for an SAM), which is not a wealth test for the family. [1, 5, 6]
Who counts as family?
The exclusion in Article 1 of Law No. 1.439 covers family office activities 'between members of a single family acting privately'; the law does not define 'family'. A multi family office, by contrast, provides advice and wealth and financial services as its habitual profession to natural persons, families, or legal entities belonging to natural persons or of which they are founders or beneficiaries (Article 1). [1, 5]
Can one office serve several families?
Under Law No. 1.439, providing advice and wealth and financial services as a habitual profession needs prior administrative authorisation, issued by ministerial order (Article 2), which can be granted only to Monegasque public limited companies (SAM), apart from credit institutions; the company's name must include 'multi family office', and it may not be majority-owned by a credit institution or by a firm carrying on items 1, 2 or 6 of Law No. 1.338 (portfolio or fund management). Where the company does not carry on items 3 and 4 of Law No. 1.338 (reception and transmission of orders for third parties, and related advice), its shareholders and directors must meet competence and integrity conditions set by Sovereign Ordinance No. 6.271 of 13 February 2017 and changes of shareholders or directors need prior approval by decision of the Minister of State; where it does, it also needs CCAF approval under Law No. 1.338 and notifies such changes to the CCAF. The firm may be paid only by its clients, and using the title 'multi family office' without authorisation is punishable by 6 days to 3 months in prison and a fine. [1, 5, 7, 8, 9]
Law, substance and vehicles
Which law and courts apply?
Monaco's private law is codified (Civil Code, Commercial Code, and the Code of Private International Law created by Law No. 1.448 of 28 June 2017) and published in the Journal de Monaco and on the Legimonaco legal database, which also publishes court decisions such as those of the Court of Revision. The CCAF, set up by Law No. 1.338 of 7 September 2007, approves firms carrying on financial activities such as portfolio management for third parties, and its approval is also needed by multi family offices for certain financial activities. For company registration, only documents submitted in French are considered official. [1, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16]
What substance is required?
A multi family office must be an SAM, which needs minimum share capital of EUR 150,000 (Law No. 1.573, Article 15), a board of at least two directors (Article 22) and articles of association in a notarised deed; it must also be able to show professional liability insurance covering its directors (Law No. 1.439, Article 6), and registration with the Trade and Industry Directory (RCI) asks, where applicable, for proof of premises. No office, staff or spending rule for a single family office was found. [1, 6, 16, 17]
Which holding vehicles are available?
Companies: the SAM (minimum capital EUR 150,000, incorporation needs administrative authorisation), the SARL and the single-member SURL, and non-trading companies (sociétés civiles) for purely non-trading activities such as managing a real estate portfolio. Trusts: under Law No. 214 of 27 February 1936, persons whose personal status allows them to arrange their property through a trust may use one in Monaco, under the foreign law the trust is placed under; trustees must be legal entities (natural persons only as co-trustees or local representatives) on a special list kept by the First President of the Court of Appeal, registration duty is 1.30%, 1.50% or 1.70% of the assets depending on the number of successive beneficiaries (lower rates for Monegasque securities, or 0.20% a year on request), and a Monaco-based trustee must have the trust entered in the Register of trusts. Trusts created under the law chosen by the Hague Convention rules are recognised under the 2017 Code of Private International Law. Foundations (Law No. 56 of 29 January 1922) need authorisation by sovereign ordinance and cannot be authorised unless they meet a general-interest need. [6, 10, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21]
Tax
What is the corporate tax rate?
Corporate income tax (impôt sur les bénéfices) is 25% for financial years starting on or after 1 January 2022 (33.33% before 2019, then 31%, 28% and 26.5%). It applies to firms carrying out commercial or industrial activities that earn more than 25% of their turnover outside Monaco, whatever their legal form, and to companies receiving patent or copyright income; administrative offices are also liable, generally taxed on a fixed basis corresponding to the amount required for their operation. The official page gives no rule specific to family offices or holding companies. [2, 22, 23]
Are there tax incentives for family offices?
No tax regime specific to family offices was found. Genuinely new businesses created in Monaco are exempt from corporate income tax for two years, then taxed on 25%, 50% and 75% of their profit in years 3 to 5 and in full from year 6. Monaco levies no wealth tax, annual property tax or council tax. [2, 22]
Is there personal income tax?
Monegasque nationals and residents pay no income tax, a principle dating from an 1869 ordinance; French nationals are the exception, under the 1963 France-Monaco bilateral convention. The exemption covers only activities carried out in Monaco and persons genuinely established there, and does not affect other countries' rules. There is no wealth tax, and VAT is levied on the same basis and at the same rate as in France. [2]
Is there inheritance or estate tax?
Inheritance duty applies only to property situated in Monaco, whatever the domicile, residence or nationality of the deceased or the donor, subject to the 1950 France-Monaco convention. Rates: 0% in the direct line (parents and children) and between spouses, 8% between siblings, 10% for uncles, aunts, nephews and nieces, 13% for other relatives and 16% for unrelated persons. Registration duties on deeds are generally 0.5% to 7.5%, or a fixed EUR 10 (a general rule, not one specific to inheritances). [2, 3]
Succession and residence
How do wills and succession work?
Children are protected (reserved) heirs under the Civil Code (Articles 780 and following), while the surviving spouse is not a reserved heir (Court of Revision, 25 March 2025). Under the Code of Private International Law (Law No. 1.448 of 2017), an estate is governed by the law of the deceased's domicile at death, but a person may choose the law of a State of which they are a national when making the choice, by an express declaration in the form of a disposition upon death (such as a will); whichever law applies cannot deprive an heir of a reserve granted by the law of the deceased's nationality at death, nor apply a reserve when that law has none (Article 63). Placing assets in a trust does not displace the law governing the succession (Article 65). [10, 11, 12, 24]
Can the family get residence?
No investor programme or fixed investment amount was found. Anyone aged 16 or over who wants to live in Monaco for more than three months a year needs a residence permit: non-EEA nationals first need a French long-stay (type D) visa, and applicants show housing large enough for the household (owned, rented or with close family), sufficient resources (for savings, a Monaco bank reference less than one month old, the amount depending on the bank) and criminal record extracts; the file includes the marriage certificate and documents for children under 16, who are not issued permits. The first card is a one-year temporary card; an ordinary three-year card follows three years of residence and a privileged ten-year card ten years of genuine residence (one year in special cases), and no permanent residence status is described. [4, 25]
Time and fees
How long does set-up take?
Not found in official sources. MonEntreprise gives deadlines rather than processing times: an SAM must complete its formation formalities within three months of the ministerial decree of authorisation, failing which the authorisation is void. [17]
What are the official fees?
Indicative (Monaco government pages updated 2024 to 2026): registering a company with shares (SA or SCA) with the Trade and Industry Directory (RCI) costs EUR 100 (EUR 75 for an SARL or SURL), plus the registration certificate, Journal de Monaco publication and extracts; registering a non-trading company costs EUR 75. A residence permit costs EUR 80 (temporary card), EUR 100 (ordinary) or EUR 160 (privileged) on first issue. No fee for multi family office authorisation or CCAF approval was found. [16, 18, 25]
Pros and cons
Pros
- Family office activities between members of a single family acting privately are outside Law No. 1.439, so they need no multi family office authorisation.
- Residents pay no personal income tax (French nationals excepted), and there is no wealth tax, annual property tax or council tax.
- Inheritance duty is 0% between parents and children and between spouses, and applies only to property situated in Monaco.
Cons
- Serving several families needs ministerial authorisation, an SAM (minimum capital EUR 150,000) and, for certain financial activities, CCAF approval.
- Children are reserved heirs under the Civil Code, and whichever law governs the estate cannot remove a reserve granted by the deceased's national law.
- No published figure for 'sufficient resources': the amount depends on the Monaco bank giving the reference, applicants need housing in Monaco, and non-EEA nationals need a French long-stay visa.
