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The Secrets of Happy Families

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In the late 1990’s, one of our co-collaborators Lee Brower read a statistic published by the Family Firm Institute, a Boston non-profit that focuses exclusively on family-owned businesses; over 90% of family wealth is lost by the end of the third generation. Even today, this dramatic loss of family wealth continues to occur, despite the best efforts of the best attorneys, accountants, wealth managers, insurance and financial planning professionals. Lee, his firm Empowered Wealth, and many others, including The Certior Group, have wondered why this happens and, more importantly, what can be done to counter or prevent this from occurring.

Many ideas have resonated with us and informed our evolving thinking on this matter. If you’ve ever engaged in multi-generational estate planning, you know that there are numerous sophisticated planning techniques and structures available to families. Aside from the unique advantages of certain Wyoming-only strategies such as private single family trust companies, we’ve chosen not to focus on legal structures but rather on facilitating a flexible planning process that encourages inter-disciplinary collaboration among advisors, including skillful, experienced attorneys.

Much of our practical thinking is now focused on how to build and maintain a healthy family culture as an essential, often overlooked element in sustaining family wealth. To this end, New York Times columnist Bruce Feiler published a book in 2013 titled “The Secrets of Happy Families“. In it, he lays out the theory and the research that supports the notion that families that know their histories – their family narratives – are happier, more resilient, and more cohesive. 

One way that we help families capture and organize their family narratives is by employing an Empowered Wealth tool and exercise called the TimeMap. As Bruce Feiler might suggest, this exercise identifies key people, events, milestones, learning experiences, and most importantly, the stories that in the aggregate form the essence of family narratives. Our experience aligns with Feiler’s: that is, most families are not intentional about telling their stories. However, once they realize the importance and value of capturing and making those stories part of the family’s traditions, those families that know their narratives have a better chance of defying the statistics and sustaining their families’ wealth.

Wyoming Private Single Family Trust Companies Allow Families to Self Govern over Multiple Generations

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The so-called paradox of freedom is the argument that freedom in the sense of absence of any constraining control must lead to very great restraint, since it makes the bully free to enslave the meek.

– Karl R. Popper

For a family that can self-govern effectively over multiple generations, a Wyoming private single family trust company is a unique, perhaps even optimal, legal and administrative structure. While the legal and regulatory environment in Wyoming is very favorable for families who create private single family trust companies, the key factor is the ability of the family to self-govern over an extended period of time.

Private Single Family Trust Company Information

We, like all other organizations that serve trust clients, want to make sure that appropriate governance, standard operating procedures, and rules of ethics are created and implemented by client families. What’s often overlooked, however, are the cultural influences that bind a family together. That’s why we pay special attention to the ideas, concepts, and tools of Empowered Wealth. Beginning with Gratitude as a fundamental part of a family’s mindset, Empowered Wealth pays close attention to capturing and capitalizing the stories, rituals, ceremonies, and traditions that are foundational to a family’s culture and its True Wealth. Add to this the Certior Group’s perspective that True Wealth Stewardship is the goal of family leadership, I think you can see that our mission isn’t to promote private single family trust companies; it’s to support thriving families and family members who are living happy, fulfilled and meaningful lives.

Avi Kantor

Comparing States for Private Trust Company Situs

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In the end, our investigation’s endorsement of Wyoming made family members comfortable knowing that, even though traveling to Wyoming might not be the most convenient place to meet, it’s a situs that works best for them.”

– Anonymous

Recently, the Family Office Exchange published an article that described one family’s thought process as they evaluated various states as the potential new situs for their private trust company.

Comparing States for Private Trust Company Situs

For many of the same reasons that we at The Certior Group believe that Wyoming Single Family Trust Companies are a good fit for many families, this family decided to remain in Wyoming, despite the apparent inconvenience that traveling to Jackson imposed on the family.

The Certior Group website is a very good source for information on private family trust companies and Wyoming’s advantages over other states from a legal and tax standpoint. See why Wyoming is a  Unique True Wealth Environment.

Avi Kantor

The CERTIOR Group, LLC

The Certior Group, LLC.

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