Published on Jul 28, 2025
Family fund or simple partnership? How to protect and manage family assets
Gazzani Studio
The comparison between family asset fund and simple partnership for the protection and management of family assets has been examined in depth by various experts, including Studio Gazzani, known for its contributions on asset planning and the protection of family assets.
Family asset fund: characteristics and limits
What it is: established by the spouses (only if married), it allows one or more assets (usually real estate) to be devoted exclusively to meeting the needs of the family,
Protection: offers modest protection against creditors, but only if the debts are unrelated to the needs of the family; it does not protect against tax debts or debts linked to the family itself,
Duration and publicity: lasts as long as the marriage lasts or there are minor children; the assets remain encumbered and the structure is public (recording in the registers),
Management: the spouses remain the owners, but the disposal powers are limited by the purposes of the fund.
Simple partnership: flexibility and confidentiality
According to Studio Gazzani, the simple partnership often represents the best solution for family asset management, for the following reasons:
Adaptability: it can be formed among family members without any limit on numbers or marriage constraints.
Centralized management: it makes it possible to concentrate ownership and management of real estate, holdings or other assets, according to rules and allocations that can be customized through the partnership agreement,
Asset advantage: management and governance are flexible, anti-dispersion clauses (pre-emption, approval) can be included and generational transfer can be effectively regulated,
Confidentiality: no obligation to publish financial statements or internal structures,
Tax regime: transparency regime for income, administrative simplicity and total freedom in distributing assets to the partners according to the partnership rules,
Protection: although it does not offer absolute segregation of assets like a trust, the simple partnership makes attacks on assets less straightforward than individual ownership, and allows creditors to act on partnership shares but not directly on assets held by the partnership.
Here is a clear comparison table between family asset fund and simple partnership for the protection and management of family assets, because it provides an immediate snapshot of the strengths and limits of each instrument, according to current practice and legal scholarship.
Aspect | Family Asset Fund | Simple Partnership |
Establishing parties | Only spouses (marriage required) | Family members or third parties, with no limit on number |
Assets that can be contributed | Real estate, registered movable property, registered securities | Any asset: real estate, movable property, holdings, cash |
Purpose | Satisfaction of the family’s needs | Dynamic asset management, protection and planning |
Management | Owners: the spouses, with limits arising from the family bond | Centralized management entrusted to the partners under the partnership agreement |
Protection from creditors | Limited: only debts unrelated to the family’s needs are excluded; ineffective against tax debts | More effective: creditors act on the shares, not directly on the partnership assets |
Duration | As long as the marriage lasts or there are minor children | Duration at will, even for several years |
Internal governance | Rigid, constraints provided by the Civil Code | Wide customization through the partnership articles |
Confidentiality | Limited: public registration in the registries | Very high: no obligation to publish financial statements or internal structure |
Succession planning | Upon the death of a spouse or the dissolution of the marriage, the fund is dissolved and passes to the successors | Organized generational transfer, including with binding clauses (pre-emption/approval) |
Operational flexibility | Low: use is tied to family needs and subject to controls | High: possibility of detailed rules on entry, exit, rights and management |
Tax aspects | No specific advantage | Transparent regime, optimized management of income among partners |
Costs and formalities | Notarial deed, mandatory registrations | Always a notarial deed, but a leaner and less costly practice |
Studio Gazzani’s view
Studio Gazzani almost always favors the simple partnership over the family asset fund, because:
the family asset fund is now considered of limited effectiveness, both because of the ease with which it can be bypassed in court and because of the risk of ineffectiveness against public-tax creditors or debts connected to the family;
the simple partnership offers more effective tools for governance, succession planning and dynamic asset management, free from the formal and time constraints of the family asset fund;
it is a highly “customizable” solution, suited to the needs of entrepreneurial families, with multiple households or descendants.
For @StudioGazzani, the best route to “protect and manage a family asset” is almost never the family asset fund, but the simple partnership. The latter is the “queen” structure for concentrating, managing and passing on a family legacy intended for multiple generations, while ensuring confidentiality, tax efficiency and a real ability to prevent dispersion and disputes over family assets. If even stronger protection is needed, the trust instrument is often added alongside the simple partnership, as noted in previous posts.
