Family Governance

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Oversight and Governance of the Trust Company
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You’ve created a great trust structure, but is the family interested and engaged? To garner buy-in, interest, and commitment from the family the trust company structure must be designed in a way that is both functional and empowering for current and rising generations. In this webinar, Thomas C. Rogerson, Senior Managing Director and Family Wealth Strategist, Wilmington Trust illustrated how to strengthen structures within partnerships, how to keep the trust company relevant for future generations, and how and where processes and services should be outsourced.

Breakout Session 1B: Social Media: The New Liability Frontier
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Facebook. Twitter. Instagram. How do you balance the need for privacy with the reality of 24/7 social media as a way of life? This session outlines strategies and practices that every family office should consider to keep your family and your family information safe.

Three Keys to Sustaining Family Wealth
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Parents often find it difficult to discuss their wealth with their children, especially when it comes to what will happen to their wealth when they die. But when parents do not clearly detail their intentions or prepare their children to receive the family’s wealth, they risk outcomes that will meaningfully erode the value of their estate. Fortunately for every family there are key steps—from opening the lines of communication early to considering the value of an impartial trustee—that can help with successfully transferring the family wealth from generation to generation.

Urgent FOX Webinar - Is the Clock Ticking for Valuation Discounts? - IRC Sec. 2704
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The announcement of proposed regulations under Internal Revenue Code Section 2704 has many families and their advisors scrambling to mitigate the potential impact the regulation could have on their estate planning efforts. Owners of family businesses have traditionally relied on valuation discounts to curb the estate and gift tax burden associated with transferring wealth and ownership to future generations. That could all change by the end of the year, should the proposed regulations take effect.

Today’s Trustee The Art and Science of PFTC Fiduciary Responsibilities
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Managing fiduciary responsibilities within a private trust company can sometimes feel like more of an art than a science. Developing effective and meaningful relationships with the beneficiaries, overseeing distributions and investment policy, understanding how and when decanting a trust is the best solution, while also being aware of the statutes under which the PTC should be operating all mandate experience and insight.

The Home Team Advantage: Successfully Preparing Your Family for the Future
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When you think about family dynamics, very often there’s a lack of that home team concept and feeling of unity. Establishing that home team within your family early on offers the greatest opportunity for generational success and healthy family governance. The need to prepare the family for the future is particularly important for families that own and run a family business which they hope to pass down to future generations. A five-step process can help families build their home team advantage.

Communicating Across Generations in the Workplace
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For the first time in modern history, four generations are represented in the workforce. Each group has its own distinct characteristics, values and attitudes toward work. These differences can lead to misunderstandings and increased conflict, posing challenges for human resources. In this webinar, we looked at how to tailor communication and training, provide constructive feedback, and find ways to celebrate the unique qualities each generation has to offer.

Seven Succession Planning Questions Families Are Avoiding Like the Plague
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Avoiding the issue of succession planning is much easier than starting a conversation about handing over the reins to other family members. But avoidance does not defer the inevitable, and it puts family harmony and wealth at risk. As patriarchs and matriarchs of wealth families confront the issue of succession planning, there are seven questions families must address if they want to avoid a failed wealth transfer.

The Six Most Contentious Parts of a Family Constitution
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A family constitution—the rule book that defines the vision and principles of a family’s wealth strategy and acts as an operating model—should be as unique as the family itself. The key to developing an appropriate family constitution is not in the ultimate output, but in the collaborative process of developing it. In working together, families often uncover factors which bind them together. However, the process can also elicit confronting discussions about what really matters to individual members.

Families Working and Investing Together: 10 Arguments For and Against
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Like many families, you may be involved in running businesses or other types of investments together with other family members, but is this necessarily the right choice? Should you consider breaking away and creating your own path. The decision on whether to stick together or unbundle collective assets into separate ownership and investment structures will perhaps be one of the most difficult decisions a family will ever confront. There are advantages and disadvantages to both.