The Benefits of Family Legacy Planning

If you are planning your family legacy, you should establish a thoughtful and well-defined framework for decision-making and responsibility among family members. This should be based on shared purpose, mission, and values and is known as a family governance plan.

The plan defines the necessary roles for the management of your wealth and family business and outlines how decisions should be made. A family governance plan can also set out mechanisms for potential future events such as selling a business or assets.

What is a Family Legacy Plan?

A family governance plan is a set of guidelines and procedures that you create to manage your family’s wealth and assets, as well as the relationships among your family members. Such a plan is useful to avoid misunderstandings, conflicts, and legal disputes that can arise due to the complexities of family dynamics and inheritance. These guidelines and procedures typically include the following:

1. The different roles and rights of family members when it comes to managing your wealth and business.
2. An outline for including family members in business or wealth-related discussions.
3. A plan for family employment, compensation, or distribution of assets.
4. An outline of the values and goals of a business and the mechanisms for how the governance of a business should work.
5. An overview of the succession process and how family members sell or share business interests.
6. A formalization of a family council or other groups that will operate the family business and manage family wealth.
7. Guidelines for business decision-making.

The Benefits of a Family Legacy Plan

There are many aspects of a family governance plan that help to preserve your legacy in the most beneficial way possible for all family members now and into the future.

• Improves Communication: Promotes family communication to strengthen unity and help preserve family wealth for multiple generations.
• Eliminates Family Conflicts: Circumvents years of family conflicts and quarrels amongst family members. All your wishes and plans are clearly documented.
• Shares Knowledge of Older Generation: Especially where a family business is concerned, you have most of the information to share which can be passed on to future generations.
• Protects Family Members: With a governance plan in place, you can ensure that all distribution of assets is fair and tax minimization strategies are utilized.
• Maintains Your Legacy: Your family business can thrive, and your wealth grow into the future.

Make a family governance plan part of your overall wealth plan to help preserve and protect family unity, wealth, and legacy for the current and future generations. By increasing family member engagement and aligning priorities, a family governance plan helps to pave the way for long-term family wealth and business success.

Build Your Wealth with Bloom

For almost 40 years, Bloom Investment Counsel, Inc. has been providing investment management services to wealthy individuals, family offices, foundations, corporations, institutions and trusts. Bloom is pleased to partner with your other financial professionals to help you in your journey to build your wealth. Contact us at info@bloominvestmentcounsel.com for more information.

This content is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, tax, legal or accounting advice nor does it constitute an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any securities referred to. Individual circumstances and current events are critical to sound investment planning; anyone wishing to act on this content should consult with his or her financial partner or advisor.