I joined Oxford’s Family Office Services Technical Team more than 20 years ago, crediting my prior experience as a CPA with the foundation needed to transition into estate and trust planning. Over time, the team has worked to address the complexities of managing multigenerational wealth, advising first, second and increasingly third generation family members.

Family Office Fellows serve as a resource for Oxford’s Managing Directors. We play a key role in coordinating the technical aspects of planning, both within the firm and externally with CPAs, attorneys and other advisors. Through this process, we gain clarity around issues identified by external partners and weigh the pros and cons of various planning techniques. We also work closely with the Managing Directors to implement the most effective solutions. Ensuring that each client’s personal perspective is reflected in their overall strategy is integral to our process. Whether a client wishes to establish a trust for family, create a philanthropic mission, develop a business succession plan or finance education expenses for future generations, we help them make a positive impact with their wealth.

Our broad perspective offers another compelling way our Family Office Fellows create value for clients. Applying a holistic view enables us to understand the client’s intentions and the planning that has already been done toward those goals. It also allows us to identify inconsistencies within a client’s wealth transfer plan. For example, over the years, many of our clients have created multiple trusts. Evaluating the trusts together rather than as separate silos supports the most effective tax and governance decisions. Our hands-on approach also helps us reflect on how changes within a family over time might impact the trusts. Additionally, we explore the effects of changing trust and tax laws on a client’s assets. Once we’ve addressed the issues, we collaborate with counsel to assist the family in creating one clear, cohesive structure that provides both consistency and flexibility. We then work with counsel to modify the suite of trusts to align with that structure, when appropriate.

At Oxford, our success stems from our ability to tap into the expertise of a team of professionals, allowing us to identify the most effective planning strategies for each client. The result is a highly cohesive, flexible plan that utilizes the most appropriate combination of planning strategies and structures to meet each family’s unique goals.