Silence is golden when you hold your tongue about the minor, temporary thing that just doesn’t matter much. But there is nothing golden about silence on estate planning, family business succession, or other things that are so very important that they are hard to discuss. A facilitated family meeting or mediation can help. […]
Read more...I am proud to announce that I have completed a fifteen month educational program and have been awarded both the FFI GEN (Global Educational Network) Certificate in Family Business Advising (CFBA) and Certificate in Family Wealth Advising (CFWA) by the Family Firm Institute. It has been a great experience: excellent faculty, comprehensive and thought-provoking readings […]
Read more...…and in with the new. That phrase and that sentiment are better suited to the turn from the old year to the new than in a change in leadership in a family business.
Read more...Arbitration has been getting some bad press lately. Plenty of it is deserved. But don’t tar mediation with the same brush!! Mediation and arbitration are both alternative dispute resolution (ADR) processes using neutrals (as we call ourselves.) But they have different approaches. An arbitrator decides winners and losers. Most of the recent bad […]
Read more...Earlier this month, in the September 12-13 edition, the Wall Street Journal ran a “Wealth Advisor” article by Veronica Dagher. In “Sibling Rivalry and Estate Planning”, she highlighted some horror stories of siblings fighting after a parent’s death. Sometimes the dispute is over significant assets, but commonly the family can’t agree on who should have […]
Read more...The New York Times published a piece yesterday by Abby Ellin titled “Strengthening Troubled Sibling Bonds to Deal With an Aging Parent.” It appears in the Saturday Personal Business section in the print edition and the Your Money section of the digital edition, here. In the article, three sisters in their fifties describe how working […]
Read more...Though Kenneth Feinberg is thought of mainly as the man tapped, time and again, to administer victim compensation funds following high profile public events, he has a thing or two to say about estate planning. In the March 26, 2015 New York Times special supplement “Your Money”, Feinberg discusses lessons learned in “Money Admonitions From […]
Read more...….Plan to Fail! It’s a familiar cliche, but nonetheless true: failing to plan is planning to fail. Family businesses face special challenges that can make it tempting to procrastinate about succession planning: the overlapping spheres of ownership, family, and management of the enterprise can provide great satisfaction and success, but they can also make it […]
Read more...On February 10th, I will be speaking on “Practical Tips for Managing Conflict in Your Family Business” at the Liquidity Event. The conference will be held at the Harvard Club of New York and is hosted by the Family Office Club. The day will be a private gathering of family business owners to focus on succession […]
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