Give Well, Guide Well, Govern Well

When we transition family wealth intergenerationally, the plans we put in place must practically work.

Think of it as investing in the future well-being of your family.

Do your current plans incorporate your hopes, aspirations and intentions? What will be the impact of those plans on those you care most about?

If family trusts are involved, there are other considerations. What sort of style of care and practice do you want from your trustees? How will the trust positively impact the trust beneficiaries?

When estate plans fail, or if family trusts don’t work, the associated pain and hurt can cascade down a family for generations to come.

The last thing you want to leave your loved ones is a mess!

It’s more than passing on money…

People must be able to flourish and thrive in the estate plans and trust structures we create for them. For that to happen, PEOPLE must be front and centre in the planning process.

Your planning must help you:

• get clear on what’s important,

• understand what’s possible,

• create positive and meaningful experiences,

• encourage excellence in your trustees, and

• enable your trust beneficiaries to flourish.

Too often, the focus of estate and trust planning is on the assets (the money) and the legal documents or structures that are created to manage, hold or transfer those assets (enduring powers of attorney, wills, family trusts, etc).

If your planning is to be purposeful, families need to be in conversation and trustees and advisers connected, involved and on the same page.

When everyone knows the plan, we give well, guide well and govern well.

Not all wealth transitions and family trusts are purposeful…

Purposeful planning considers the capability and needs of people who will steward the wealth (your trustees), and how people will integrate living with new wealth or a family trust in their life (your inheritors or beneficiaries).

With significant financial wealth transitioning between generations on trust, family trusts must work for all involved. It is never too late for a purposeful conversation to help a trust creator get their intentions clear, or to help trustees deliver outcomes which enable beneficiaries to flourish and thrive.

If you would like to better understand how to create empowering and enhancing experiences, give Lindsay a call. He’s an expert in helping families and trustees get better definition around their forward plans so they’re crystal clear on what’s important and what’s possible.

Think about your own situation…

• How well have you defined and communicated your intentions and hopes?

• What positive messages are you sending with your estate plan or family trust?

• What style of trusteeship do you want for your trust and its beneficiaries?

• Does your estate plan or family trust practically work?

• How are you positively contributing to how you will be remembered?

Invitation…

If these concepts resonate, contact Lindsay for a confidential conversation to talk through your current plans or family trust. When you know what’s possible, its always easier to take the next step.