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While family businesses are playing an important role in the economy and studies have regularly shown that in the long-term they outperform other businesses, there is the continual challenge of succession to the next generation. An estate is built up over the generations and the family grows larger. This source of diversity is not without its challenges: how do you forge a common identity to which everyone can relate? How do you learn to take decisions together while maintaining family harmony?

Current U.S. fiscal policy, if not modified before year-end, is on track to deliver a $600 billion economic headwind in 2013 (the equivalent of 4 percent of U.S. GDP), while the 2012 presidential and congressional elections add another layer of uncertainty to an already complex and politically challenged situation.

The upcoming election is as much about how we address fiscal issues as it is about the pace of the remedy; at the center is the debate over taxes and the size of government.

Each investor—whatever his or her background, experience or training—should employ a systematic protocol in the pursuit of growth and stability. An investment process should embody an investment philosophy. Grounded by best practices, this philosophy should stem from a set of beliefs that prescribe how to generate superior risk-adjusted returns in varying market environments and cycles.

Home networks, social media and mobile devices have enriched our lives in many ways, but they have also multiplied the opportunities for security breaches. Families, especially those of substantial means, need to carefully evaluate the precautionary measures and protocols that protect their cyber environments.

Current law provides that on January 1, 2013, income tax rules revert to significantly higher pre-2001 levels. In addition, it appears that the new Medicare Hospital Insurance taxes for high-income individuals will go into effect in 2013 following the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the majority of the Obama health care law. Congress is unlikely to agree on significant tax law changes prior to November as we await the outcome of elections, the results of which could impact future tax legislation. This white paper looks at what you need to know to make informed decisions.

Many family offices run like mom-and-pop shops need to embrace best-in-class management and oganizational standards. Blackman Kallick's Mark Blumenthal presents a case study of a small family office that put more formalized processes in place in this "Worth" magazine article.

Over the past several months, private investors and their advisors have been pondering the wisdom of accelerating long-term capital gains in the 2012 tax year. This paper looks at why.

Every investor knows about Yale University and the extraordinary success of its endowment portfolio. Indeed, many families have tried to emulate Yale’s approach to asset management, for obvious reasons. Unfortunately, fewer people are aware of of the Norway Government Pension Fund. While there are certainly aspects of the Yale Model that are useful to private investors, the Norway Model seems to speak much more directly to families and, equally important, seems to be implementable by all but the smallest family investors.

This paper reviews the expanded federal gift exemption that is set to expire at the end of 2012 and the tax differences that are set to occur on gifts given before and after December 31, 2012. Hemenway & Barnes also reviews various trust instruments, including a generation-skipping trust and a grantor trust.