DMCC Single Family Office: Who Qualifies, What It Costs and How It Compares

A single family office is a company that looks after one family's wealth. It holds investments, keeps the books, coordinates advisers and plans succession. DMCC, the free zone in Jumeirah Lakes Towers, already licensed this activity and wrote it into formal rules in October 2024.

The DMCC version has two features that stand out. The entry bar is low, at USD 1 million in liquid or investible assets. And the office sits on a private register, away from DMCC's ordinary company register.

This guide answers the questions families ask most. Who qualifies, what can the office do, how private is it, what does it cost, how is it taxed, and how does it compare with ADGM and DIFC? For the wider picture, start with our overview of UAE wealth structuring in 2026.

Key TakeawaysA DMCC single family office is an ordinary DMCC company with a special licence. Every shareholder, owner and director must be a family member, and the office needs at least USD 1 million in liquid or investible assets when it applies.It can hold and manage wholly family-owned investments and coordinate trustees and advisers. It can't offer regulated financial services, act as trustee or serve outsiders.Its register entry and filings are confidential. An ordinary DMCC company's register can be made public.DMCC's schedule of charges lists no fee specific to a single family office; it mentions the single family office only to say it's a standalone activity. Ask DMCC for the figure before you budget. Government fees are only part of the bill: legal, service provider, administration, accounting and audit fees come on top and usually cost more.The UAE tax authority says a single family office is taxed on all its income, and a licence alone doesn't earn the 0% free zone rate. Plan to pay UAE corporate tax on its profits unless advice confirms otherwise.

In this article:

• What is a DMCC single family office?
• Who qualifies?
• What can it do, and what can't it?
• How private is it?
• What does it cost?
• DMCC, ADGM or DIFC?
• How is a DMCC family office taxed?
• Family office or foundation, or both?
• How to set one up
• Who should choose DMCC, and who should look elsewhere?
• Frequently asked questions
• Next steps
• Sources and legal references

What is a DMCC single family office?

It's a DMCC company that holds a single family office licence. It is not a new type of entity.

The company is a free zone limited liability company, limited either by shares or by guarantee. DMCC's own page calls these an LLC or a CLG (company limited by guarantee). Its legal name must end in "SFO DMCC". A branch of a foreign company can't hold the licence.

The licence is a standalone one. DMCC classes it as a Commercial Licence, the same category as holding companies and special purpose vehicles. The office can't hold any other active DMCC licence, so a family's trading business needs its own separate company.

DMCC is building out this market. In September 2025 it launched a Wealth Hub for family offices and private capital. DMCC says more than 1,800 of its members are already active in the sector.

Who qualifies?

A family that keeps the office entirely in the family and can show at least USD 1 million in liquid or investible assets at the time of application.

Three groups must all be family members:

• every shareholder;
• every ultimate beneficiary, meaning any individual who owns or controls 25% or more;
• every director.

There's one exception for directors. If the office is owned directly by a trust, the trustees can sit on the board.

"Family" has a set meaning. It covers the direct descendants or adopted children of a common parent, or of that parent's spouse, down to three generations. Widows and widowers count, even if they've remarried.

Membership is set when you apply. Descendants born later count, and so do the spouses of family members.

The rules as written allow a company, such as a family holding company, to own the office. Confirm the structure with DMCC at pre-approval.

What can it do, and what can't it?

It can run the family's wealth in-house, but only for the one family and only over assets the family owns outright.

The office can provide financial and non-financial services to the family. Examples in the rules include wealth management, asset management, concierge work, day-to-day accounting and running legal and governance affairs. Its purpose must be holding or investing family assets, or planning succession.

In practice, it may:

• invest in any business, company, foundation, trust or other vehicle that the family owns 100%;
• act as protector or go-between for a regulated trustee abroad that runs a trust or foundation;
• supervise and coordinate foreign trustees and fiduciary providers;
• employ family members and appoint them as directors.

The limits are just as clear. The office can't provide financial services that need a licence from the UAE securities regulator, and it can't act as a trustee.

It also can't manage or advise on any asset that isn't 100% family-owned. And its shares can never pass to someone outside the family.

Any lawyer or financial adviser the office hires or outsources to must be properly qualified and regulated. The office must also tell DMCC in advance of any material change. That includes a change of owner, a change in the number of family members it serves, or a change in its services.

A worked example

Say your family's wealth sits in a trading company in DMCC and a portfolio held through a holding company. You and your children own both outright. You set up an office owned by you, with you and your daughter as directors.

The office can oversee the holding company, deal with the private bank, coordinate a trustee abroad and plan who takes over when. The rules as written don't let it trade, so the trading company keeps its own licence and staff.

If a friend buys 10% of the holding company, that holding company stops qualifying. Our guide to UAE holding company structures covers how to set up that middle layer.

How private is it?

More private than an ordinary DMCC company. The office sits on a separate private register, and its filings stay confidential.

For a normal DMCC company, the register holds the name, registration number, licence, registered address and directors' names. DMCC may open that register to public inspection. For a family office, the same details go on the private register instead, and they must be kept confidential.

Only the family office itself, a family member or their authorised representative can ask for an extract. They can only see the entry for their own office, not anyone else's.

Confidential means not public. It doesn't mean hidden from DMCC, which still holds the full details.

What does it cost?

DMCC's schedule of charges lists no fee specific to a single family office; it mentions the single family office only to say it's a standalone activity. We checked on 23 September 2026. Ask DMCC for the figure before you budget.

The rules create recurring costs, whatever the licence fee turns out to be:

• a licence, renewed each year;
• office space in DMCC, under a lease or a freehold, unless DMCC agrees otherwise;
• any permits and visas you need if you employ staff;
• annual accounts to international accounting standards (IFRS), audited by a DMCC-approved auditor unless DMCC waives this.

A company limited by guarantee has its own DMCC regulations, so confirm its audit position with DMCC.

On office space, DMCC offers everything from co-working desks to full floors. It also states there's no minimum number of staff.

These are government and landlord charges only. Legal advice, a corporate service provider, administration, accounting and the audit come on top. They usually cost more than the government fees and vary with the provider and the complexity of your structure.

DMCC, ADGM or DIFC?

Choose DMCC for the lowest entry bar and a private register; choose ADGM for a published fee and no audit; look at DIFC if the family is much larger and wants a broader arrangement.

ADGM, in Abu Dhabi, asks for at least USD 10 million in family net assets. It publishes a government fee of USD 5,600 to set up and USD 5,300 each year after. ADGM says there's no audit requirement. It also offers a restricted scope company, which limits what the public sees to the company name and office address.

DIFC replaced its single family office rules in 2023 with new family arrangements regulations. According to law-firm summaries of those regulations, the family needs at least USD 50 million in net assets. A DIFC family office can serve one or more families.

The DIFC fee table has no registration line for family offices; fees follow the legal form you use, such as a prescribed company. If you mainly need a DIFC holding vehicle, a DIFC prescribed company may be the more relevant tool.

	DMCC	ADGM	DIFC
Minimum family wealth	USD 1 million in liquid or investible assets	USD 10 million in net assets	USD 50 million in net assets (reported by law firms)
Government fee (year one / later years)	No family-office fee listed	USD 5,600 / USD 5,300	Fees of the legal form used; no family-office line
Professional fees (legal, service provider, administration, accounting, audit)	Extra	Extra	Extra

The ADGM figures are government fees only. One more difference: a DMCC office must file audited accounts unless DMCC waives it, while ADGM says it has no audit requirement. In all three centres, legal, service provider, administration and accounting fees come on top and usually cost more than the government fees.