Communication is critical in family wealth governance

Who will inherit? When will control pass? How should portfolios, property, businesses or philanthropic structures be divided?

These are important questions, but they are rarely the ones that must be addressed upfront.

For many family offices, the most immediate and consequential issue is not the transfer of capital but the transfer of understanding.

Think of it like this. If you could not get up tomorrow to do what you did yesterday, or if you suddenly could not make the decisions you usually do on a daily basis, does your family and trusted advisers understand what the expectations of them are?

This is often where we start when building frameworks for family offices to manage and preserve their wealth.

Knowing each person's roles, responsibilities and expectations makes it simpler to map the control of wealth across multiple structures and for advisers to determine and coordinate where conversations and communication need to happen to build solutions and deliver necessary outcomes.

Communication makes governance tick

For many families, governance is still thought of in formal terms: constitutions, advisory boards, investment committees, trustee structures, family councils and succession plans. While these structures are valuable and often necessary, they alone do not guarantee good governance outcomes.

A family may have a sophisticated trust structure or a detailed estate plan but still struggle if family members do not properly document and share their expectations, rights, responsibilities and the purpose of their wealth.