Fiducie practice — Management fiducie

Management fiducie

Q: What is the maximum duration of a management fiducie?

The maximum duration of a management fiducie is 99 years. It must be expressly stipulated in the constitutive deed. Failing that, the fiducie is void.

Q: Does the management fiducie protect assets from creditors?

Yes. The fiduciary assets are allocated to a separate patrimony. They fall outside insolvency proceedings opened against the settlor or the fiduciary (subject to claims linked to the management).

Q: What types of assets can be managed in a fiducie?

Any type of asset or right may be transferred: financial assets, shares, real property, copyright, patents, and so on. Including future assets if they are sufficiently identifiable.

Q: How do the management fiducie and the security fiducie fit together?

The two mechanisms serve different purposes but can be combined in certain structures. See security fiducie for the guarantee dimension of a financing.

BENSAID Avocats acts in management fiducie matters to ensure the administration of assets, operational continuity and fiduciary reporting within a secure contractual framework. The management fiducie organises the administration and safekeeping of assets according to powers and reporting defined by contract, with asset segregation and dedicated governance.

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— The mission

What the fiduciary does, and to whom it is accountable

In a management fiducie, everything turns on one sentence of the agreement: the mission. Article 2018, 6° of the Civil Code requires it to define, on pain of nullity, the fiduciary's mission and the scope of its powers of administration and disposal. A fiduciary can thus be confined to collecting rents, or authorised to sell. Between the two, everything is a matter of drafting.

The counterpart of these powers is the duty to account, organised by article 2022. The agreement sets its terms and frequency; upon request, the beneficiary and the third party designated under article 2017 also receive the accounts.

The mission and the scope of powers must appear in the agreement on pain of nullity (art. 2018, 6°)
The agreement defines the terms on which the fiduciary accounts to the settlor (art. 2022)
The beneficiary and the third-party protector designated under article 2017 receive the accounts on request, at the agreed frequency
If the settlor is placed under guardianship (tutelle) during the fiducie, the fiduciary accounts to the guardian, on request, at least once a year
Under curatorship (curatelle), it accounts on the same terms to the settlor and the curator
Appointing a third-party protector to watch over the settlor's interests is optional, but it is the first governance reflex in family fiducies

This is why a management fiducie is drafted like a mandate, not like a security: what the fiduciary may not do must be written as clearly as what it must do. The firm itself acts as fiduciary, which gives this drafting a very concrete meaning: we write the obligations we undertake to honour.

— The limits

What a management fiducie does not allow

A warning first, because it comes up in almost every first meeting. Article 2013 of the Civil Code provides that a fiducie agreement is void if it proceeds from a donative intent in favour of the beneficiary, and that this nullity is a matter of public policy. The fiducie therefore replaces neither a gift nor a will: it organises management, it does not transfer wealth gratuitously.

Transferring wealth gratuitously

Impossible. The donative fiducie is void as a matter of public policy (art. 2013). A transmission is prepared with the tools of gift and inheritance law; the fiducie can at most accompany it, never carry it.

Escaping your creditors

The fiduciary estate is separate, but a fiducie set up in fraud of creditors' rights remains open to challenge, notably through the action paulienne. Separation protects a transaction; it does not erase a debt.

Gaining a tax advantage

The fiducie is built to be tax neutral: it creates no friction, but it opens no preferential regime either. Whoever chooses it for that reason has picked the wrong tool.

Doing without an authorised fiduciary

Article 2015 of the Civil Code reserves the role of fiduciary to credit institutions, the institutions and services of article L. 518-1 of the monetary and financial code, investment firms, portfolio management companies, insurance undertakings — and lawyers. A trusted relative, however competent, cannot hold it.

— 01

The management fiducie, definition and objectives

The fiducie (article 2011 of the Civil Code) allows a settlor to transfer assets, rights or security to a fiduciary tasked with managing them autonomously for defined purposes, for the benefit of one or more beneficiaries.

The management fiducie organises the administration and safekeeping of assets according to powers and reporting defined by contract, with asset segregation and dedicated governance. It adapts to a range of wealth and legal situations while offering bespoke management and reinforced contractual protection.

The firm deliberately takes on a limited number of matters to guarantee the partners' direct involvement in each case, and systematically assesses the relevance of acting before any engagement.

— 02

Use cases and benefits

Escrow the terms of a transaction

In an acquisition or a business dispute, a sum, securities or an asset must be placed in the hands of a strictly neutral third party until the conditions are satisfied. The firm organises a management fiducie serving as a fiduciary escrow, under a precise mandate.

Hold and administer assets in a restructuring

During the restructuring of a group, certain assets must be isolated and managed away from creditors, without interrupting the business. The firm sets up a controlled fiduciary asset holding, with defined governance and reporting.

Manage securities during shareholder tension

In a dispute between shareholders or during a business transfer, the securities are entrusted to a fiduciary who exercises the attached rights under a neutral and transparent mandate, in a logic of controlled shareholder governance, until the situation is resolved.

Ensure continuity in a carve-out or a disposal

A real-estate or operating asset is administered by the fiduciary during the transition, ensuring uninterrupted continuity until the final transfer.

Protection of vulnerable persons

The management fiducie can also organise the administration of assets for the benefit of vulnerable persons: management and return rules defined by contract, civil-law and tax safeguards, and coordination with legal protection regimes.

Management of complex assets

Administration of asset portfolios comprising sensitive or complex assets: financial assets, real estate, intellectual property rights.

Delegation of management to a fiduciary within a strict framework
Powers, objectives and control arrangements defined by contract
Periodic reporting and traceability
Suited to sensitive or strategic assets

Transitional management

Phases of operational continuity, governance transition, execution of a management mandate over a defined period.

Operational continuity during sensitive periods
Governance transition in family groups
Reporting and traceability throughout the mission
Organised exit according to the contractual terms

Structuring benefits

Three main benefits that underpin the value of the management fiducie.

Asset protection, the fiduciary patrimony is isolated from the creditors of the settlor and of the fiduciary (subject to claims linked to the management)
Professional management, the fiduciary is bound by the contract (powers, reporting, controls) and incurs liability in the event of default
Flexibility, a bespoke mission: objectives, decision-making terms, commitment thresholds, delegations, monitoring committees

— 03

Parties and governance

Three roles and a precise contractual framework that structure every transaction.

Governance defined by contract

The governance sets the fiduciary powers, the delegations, the commitment thresholds and the monitoring committees, with periodic reporting and external controls. The fiduciary lawyer plays a central role: structuring of powers, securing of decisions, compliance and traceability.

Three key parties

The settlor

Transfers the assets to the fiduciary patrimony and defines the contractual management objectives. Chooses the fiduciary, the beneficiaries, the duration and the exit terms.

The fiduciary

Administers the assets, exercises its powers and accounts for its actions according to the governance provided. Incurs liability in the event of a breach of its contractual or professional obligations.

The beneficiary(ies)

Benefit(s) from the proceeds or the result of the management in accordance with the contract. May be the settlor itself, a third party, a family or an institution.

— 04

Site dedicated to the management fiducie

To go deeper into the management fiducie: asset governance, wealth holding, transfer engineering, contractual framework and long-term performance monitoring.

fiduciegestion.com

Everything on the management fiducie

The site dedicated to the management fiducie: asset governance, wealth holding, transfer engineering, contractual framework and long-term performance monitoring.

Découvrir le site dédié

— 05

Lead counsel

The firm's management fiducie practice is led by Jonathan Bensaid, founding partner, in coordination with a network of multidisciplinary experts (notaries, family officers, asset managers, financial advisers).

Jonathan Bensaid Founding partner — Fiducie

Jonathan BENSAID has developed a significant practice in fiducie transactions and complex financings. This expertise enables the firm's clients to obtain broad support, with a complete structuring of their projects, notably in real-estate matters.

— Magazine Les Décideurs

— 06

Frequently asked questions

What is the maximum duration of a management fiducie?

The maximum duration of a management fiducie is 99 years. It must be expressly stipulated in the constitutive deed. Failing that, the fiducie is void.

Does the management fiducie protect assets from creditors?

Yes. The fiduciary assets are allocated to a separate patrimony. They fall outside insolvency proceedings opened against the settlor or the fiduciary (subject to claims linked to the management).

What types of assets can be managed in a fiducie?

Any type of asset or right may be transferred: financial assets, shares, real property, copyright, patents, and so on. Including future assets if they are sufficiently identifiable.

What is the role of the fiduciary lawyer in a management fiducie?

The fiduciary lawyer structures the powers, secures the decisions, ensures compliance and traceability. The lawyer is bound by the reinforced professional obligations of the profession.

How do the management fiducie and the security fiducie fit together?

The two mechanisms serve different purposes but can be combined in certain structures. See security fiducie for the guarantee dimension of a financing.

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— Fiducie practice

Setting up a management fiducie

Present the context, the assets concerned and the management objectives, to assess the relevance of a management fiducie and arrange an initial consultation.

Updated: 3 July 2026