Stella Kim

Stella Kim is a Senior Associate at Al Tamimi & Company, based in Dubai International Financial Centre, focusing on Estate Planning. She advises high-net-worth individuals, family offices, family business owners and trustees on all aspects of wealth structuring, estate planning, succession arrangements, family governance and related tax matters.

With a focus on creating bespoke solutions, Stella works closely with clients to ensure their wealth is preserved and transitioned across generations in a tax-efficient manner whilst also aligning with their business objectives and values.

She has a particular interest in advising family businesses, helping founders and family members establish long-term governance frameworks and wealth structures that reflect their unique ethos of wealth generation and long-term goals. This often involves the creation of family constitutions, trusts and foundations alongside estate planning measures (Wills) and cross-border tax considerations to safeguard family interests and provide clarity for future generations.

Prior to joining Al Tamimi, Stella trained and qualified as a UK corporate tax lawyer at a ‘magic circle’ firm in London before transitioning to a private client and UK tax lawyer at a Tier 1 private client law firm in London. She is a dual qualified and admitted lawyer (England & Wales / Australia), regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and duly registered with the Dubai Legal Affairs Department. She is a qualified Trust and Estate Practitioner (TEP), a full member of STEP Arabia and a Registered DIFC Wills Draftsman, enabling her to assist clients on a full-scope basis — advising, drafting, implementation and maintenance — through the generational family lifecycle.

Her recent experience includes advising trustees of offshore trusts in the US, Jersey, Guernsey and Switzerland on structuring for tax-efficient investment into regional assets such as UAE property; advising a Middle Eastern conglomerate family on holding structures for transferring personally held business and private assets exceeding US$5 billion across multiple jurisdictions for the benefit of the patriarch’s family and future descendants; advising a well-established Swiss family on restructuring a historic generational trust in light of generational expansion and immigration to the UAE; advising a multi-billion dollar Middle Eastern conglomerate family on their DIFC unit trust PTC structure for family governance while ensuring structural Shari’ah law compliance; and advising an Indian family office on incorporating a UAE subsidiary to expand business interests and diversify investment holdings into Dubai and the wider Middle East.

She holds a Bachelor of Laws (Hons.) and a Bachelor of Commerce (Finance) (Dist.) from UNSW, Sydney (2014), a Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice from The Australian National University (2015), an Accelerated Legal Practice Course from BPP Law School (2017) and the STEP Diploma (2024). She was admitted as a Solicitor in New South Wales in July 2015, qualified as a Solicitor of England & Wales in March 2019, and was licensed as a Legal Consultant by the Government of Dubai Legal Affairs Department in May 2025. She speaks English and Korean.