41 ? Civic Foundations This type of foundation especially serves non-profit and charitable purposes. ? Family Foundations The introduction of the family foundation in Dutch law has basically resulted in an exception concerning the prohibition of benefits to family members of the founder. Assets are paid into a foundation as part of asset planning; the foundation manages these assets for the holders of share certificates. What is particular about this foundation form is that no inheritance or gift taxes are levied on the assets endowed to the foundation. The foundation files an annual tax declaration over the services provided. After 60 years, the foundation ceases to exist de jure. Private fund foundations, which are similar to family foundations, exist in parts of the King- dom such as in the Dutch Antilles and Aruba. ? Company-related Foundations In the Netherlands, it is quite common to include foundations in groups of companies. By means of establishing a foundation, the voting rights associated with and the beneficial inter- est in shares can be separated (in the case of a trusteeship). This permits companies listed on a stock exchange to create special protective constructs or to enable preferred participa- tion. What is particular in this context is that the statutes of company-related foundations may stipulate that some resolutions by the board of directors require the approval of another foundation, with the advantage that the existence of such provision is not public. ? Trust Company The trust company (Stichting Administratiekantoor) is used to separate legal ownership from economic activities. The trust company can be involved in the certification of shares. ? Investment Funds and Pension Funds In the context of Dutch foundation law, pension funds represent an interesting construct as they do not comply with two fundamental principles of foundations: First, pension funds have members and second, they make payments. ? Government Foundations The government also uses the legal form of foundation, in which government bodies may be directly or indirectly involved. Due to a variety of rules on subsidies, such foundations may depend on government bodies. Dissolution of Foundations The foundation statutes can be modified if this is provided for in the foundation statutes. The same rule applies to a change of the legal form, a merger or a division of the foundation, which may represent grounds for dissolution.