Search Results

FOX’s annual estate planning webcast will lead participants through a thoughtful discussion of some of the most important topics and developments that were addressed at the 58th Annual Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning. Key legislative, regulatory, and case law updates impacting ultra-high net worth families and their family offices will be c...

Every family office is unique, and so are the governance structures needed to meet the family's objectives. This session will help attendees understand when a family office should implement more (or less) formal governance components - from committees to councils to bringing in outside directors alongside family members. Attendees will walk away wi...

From risk management to objective perspectives to succession planning, boards are a crucial component to help the family business achieve longevity. Boards serve as a mechanism to clarify the mandates of the family and provide continuity and formal guidance to future generations. During this session, experts will share easy-to-implement governance ...

The death of a loved one is a difficult and emotional time for a family. There is often additional stress if you are appointed as the executor of the will and trustee of your family’s trusts, especially if the deceased had been the sole manager of substantial family assets and wealth. For an untrained person, it can be a daunting role. For these re...

When done well, a trustee’s service can have a profoundly positive impact on a family; when done poorly, a trustee’s service can create or exacerbate fissures within a family, dissipate family wealth, create personal liability for the trustee, and create a public spectacle that sullies the family’s good name and reputation. For key employees in fam...

Ultimately, how well your wealth transfer plan fulfills your legacy and meets the needs of the next—and future—generations depends on whom you name as your trustee(s). This makes your trustee selection one of the most critical aspects of an already complex wealth planning process. To help navigate this selection process, work with a framework built...

Losing a loved one can be very difficult. Yet, as an executor, spouse, or family member, you need to take steps to ensure that your loved one's financial affairs are properly settled as part of the family’s end-of-life planning. To help with the process, this step-by-step guide outlines the key tasks, including selecting an executor, considering th...

Serving as a trustee for your family can be a valuable experience for you, while also providing an important service to your family. But before you accept the position, make sure that you understand the role you will play for the family and are willing to accept the responsibilities and liability that come with it.

To effectively serve as a trustee, it's crucial to understand your fiduciary duties. Even trustees with the best of intentions can create liability for themselves by being unprepared for the job or by not fully understanding their obligations. Learn more about some of the common mistakes family trustees make that can lead to lawsuits and other...

Family wealth encompasses more than the financial capital of the family. From a multi-generational and family sustainability perspective, it’s about thinking beyond the private wealth and incorporating a holistic approach that prepares the human capital, enhances the intellectual capital, and builds the appropriate governance framework. This shift ...

It is not uncommon for enterprising families to end up making sub-optimal capital allocation decisions due to limited visibility into, and planning around, the entirety of their shared family assets. To optimize the value of shared family capital, both the business and other entities or advisors in the enterprise ecosystem must work in harmony. Wit...

As enterprising families expand across generations, they often stray from their entrepreneurial wealth creation roots to a more risk-averse wealth-protection mode. However, if maintaining shared family capital across multiple generations is the goal, wealth protection mode is not an ideal strategy and may have some unintended consequences. Building...

Choosing a trustee is a major decision—one that may impact you and your family in many ways for generations to come. Essentially, when you establish a trust for the benefit of others, you are handing down your values through the terms of the trust and your contributed financial assets. And with an increasing number of trusts lasting for multiple ge...

Enterprise families are unique because they share ownership and stewardship of more than just family businesses. In addition to co-owning operating companies, they are the guardians of family legacy, family trusts, shared philanthropy, and joint properties. As leadership moves from founders to siblings to cousins and family priorities change, the d...

Estate planning is often part of a divorce settlement, and negotiation of these terms can be as integral to the divorce settlement as allocation of parental responsibilities, support issues, or division of marital estate. For example, even a relatively simple Marital Settlement Agreement may generally contain waivers of an ex-spouse’s right to make...