Family Offices and Private Trust Companies
With the ever increasing complexity of, and array of services and options available for, financial management and tax and estate planning, an increasing number of wealthy families are creating or using the services of family offices or, in some cases, private trust companies. Our lawyers have significant experience advising families in connection with the creation and operation of family offices and private trust companies. For instance, we recently worked with the senior officers of a 25+ employee family office on its transition to a private trust company and the creation of a new governance structure to take into account generational and geographic shifts within the family.
A family office typically works with family members on a number of planning and compliance matters, which might include, among other things, financial planning and budgeting, investing, tax return preparation, tax planning, coordination of family philanthropy (including in some cases a family private foundation) and payroll for and oversight of household staff. A family office also often works with the family’s other professional advisors, such as attorneys, accountants and investment managers, to create a coordinated approach to planning for the family. In some cases, a family might choose to create its own private trust company, which can provide family office services to the family members and may also be able to act as a Trustee of family trusts.
We counsel families regarding the advisability of using a family office or a private trust company and, if so, which structure would work best. There are a variety of possible structures, including forming a single family office, forming a private trust company, joining a multi-family office or engaging the family office services offered by a financial institution. We work closely with the family in setting up the family office and in identifying relevant outside resources and, in the case of a private trust company, we work closely with specialized banking counsel on the creation and governance structure of the private trust company. After the family office or private trust company has been created, we work closely with its officers and employees on a wide variety of legal matters, including tax and estate planning, tax compliance, corporate, real estate, employment, employee benefits and other legal matters.
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