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Selling the family-owned business is one of the most important financial decisions and transactions that any family will face. Business owners, their children and grandchildren will live with the results for a long time to come. Getting it right is important to maximize family wealth, and some basic advance planning — even several years in advance — could help achieve that critical goal.

Leadership succession and governance are important issues for every financial family. However, these issues are especially complex for business-owning families. To explore succession from an expert perspective, FOX spoke with Kelin Gersick, co-founder and senior partner of Lansberg, Gersick & Associates, a consulting and research firm specializing in family enterprise and philanthropy.

This article highlights the fact that most wealthy U.S. families customarily choose individuals rather than trust companies to serve as trustee, even for complex trusts holding very substantial assets and even though a family who can afford it now has the option of creating its own trust. The article also argues that reliance on individual trustees carries the risk that it depends on an unbroken line of succession from one 'wise' (competent, diligent) trustee to the next, with little or no transition time or cushion to adjust for unexpected events.

“I’m not the only rich kid worried about the voodoo of inherited wealth.” With these words, 21-year-old Jamie Johnson, heir to the Johnson & Johnson fortune, set out to record his peers’ angst over coming into vast inheritances.

The transition of family leadership from one generation to the next is never a smooth road. Family members are often confused about their roles and apprehensive about where a new leader might take them. It's no surprise then that many families avoid facing the challenge of transition until it is inevitable.

This issue paper focuses on the principles, practices, and policies of family governance. It aims to help philanthropic families understand the theory and practice of effective family governance.

The senior generation of a financial family usually has some notion of when and what to tell the next generation about the family finances. This is typically based on the family goals and family philosophy on how to reach those goals. For example, if parents are concerned that their offspring will fail to become productive members of society if all the financial facts and circumstances are revealed, they might be closed-mouthed or vague about the amount of wealth that will be passed along.

Family Office Exchange LLC is often asked about resources that are available to teach basic concepts in money and finance. In response, we've researched some of the best Internet resources available.

Family transitions are not only difficult, but potentially explosive. Younger family members often have a high sense of anxiety because they don't know what will happen next. At the same time, those in control may be unaware that others aren't happy. Mounting tensions can cause families to delay change as long as possible, often compounding the problems.

Financial families who have accumulated great wealth face unique challenges associated with passing that wealth productively to future generations, and/or philanthropic recipients. Being invested together in multiple financial and business opportunities requires a sophisticated structure for managing the family’s financial enterprise.