← 1. Structure & Vehicle3. Investment Strategy →
Each vehicle from the previous page has its own registration path. Sequencing them correctly, and starting the slower ones early, is what keeps a family office from being commissioned after the money it was meant to receive.
← 1. Structure & Vehicle3. Investment Strategy →
← 1. Structure & Vehicle3. Investment Strategy →
Trust registration
A private trust deed is executed and registered under the Indian Trusts Act, 1882, alongside the Registration Act, 1908; stamp duty is state-specific and can be material on larger corpora, worth pricing in before the deed is finalised, not after.
LLP or company incorporation
The same SPICe+ integrated incorporation route used for any private limited company (bundling name reservation, MOA/AOA, and PAN/TAN issuance), or the LLP equivalent, applies here. See our GCC setup & registration page for the mechanics; they're identical whether the entity is a captive subsidiary or a family holding company.
Section 8 company and the 12AB/80G path
If philanthropy is part of the structure, the Section 8 company itself is incorporated via SPICe+ like any company, then separately registered for tax purposes under Section 12AB (Form 10A for a fresh application, Form 10AB for renewal) to be tax-exempt on its own income, and under Section 80G to let donors claim a deduction. Following the Finance Act, 2025 amendment, entities whose total income stays under ₹5 crore in each of the two preceding years qualify for a 10-year registration validity rather than the shorter cycle that applied before; renewal applications need to go in well before the current registration expires, not after, since a lapsed registration is materially harder to revive than to renew on time.
Bank accounts and the practical sequencing
Each entity needs its own bank account and KYC, and if capital is arriving from abroad or from an NRI family member, FEMA reporting requirements apply the same way they would for any foreign-sourced investment. We sequence trust registration, incorporation, and tax registrations in parallel wherever the underlying steps allow it, which is how a full structure gets built inside weeks rather than months.
Talk to us about your family office.
A realistic sequencing timeline
- Weeks 1–2: trust deed drafted and the family's succession and control terms finalised; stamp duty exposure priced in before the deed is executed.
- Weeks 1–4, in parallel: LLP or company incorporation through SPICe+, and trust registration under the Registration Act, 1908, run alongside each other rather than sequentially, since neither depends on the other completing first.
- Weeks 4–8: if a Section 8 philanthropy vehicle is part of the structure, its own SPICe+ incorporation, followed by the 12AB application (Form 10A) once the entity exists; the 80G application can be filed at the same time.
- Ongoing from week 2: bank accounts and KYC opened for each entity as it's registered, rather than waiting for the full structure to be complete.
The 12AB timeline that catches new philanthropy vehicles off guard
A first-time 12AB registration (Form 10A) is provisional for three years, not permanent. Regular registration has to be applied for (Form 10AB) at least six months before the provisional registration expires, or within six months of the entity actually starting its charitable activity, whichever is earlier. Missing that window means reapplying as a fresh provisional registration rather than converting smoothly to regular status: the single most common Section 8 timeline mistake we see families make when they set the philanthropy vehicle up themselves and don't calendar the follow-up filing.
Common questions
Can the trust and the LLP or company share a registered address?
Yes, and most family offices we build do exactly this at first, consolidating to separate addresses only if the operating business later needs its own commercial premises.
Setup and registration.
Entity setup and documentation, coordinated across legal, tax, and banking.
Read the briefing →
Talk to us about your family office.
Bring the situation, however incomplete; leave with a written, fixed-fee plan for the structure, on the same calendar as everything else we file for you.