Family Wealth--Keeping It in the Family: How Family Members and Their Advisers Preserve Human, Intellectual, and Financial Assets for Generations (Hardcover)

"A must read for those we call patriarchs and matriarchs, their key intermediaries, all trustees and beneficiaries" -- Michael J. A. Smith, Head of Wealth with Responsibility Program, U.S. Private Wealth Management, Deutsche Bank

"An approach to wealth preservation that values not only money but people." -- Peter White, Managing Director, Family Advisory Practice, Citigroup Private Bank

"Brilliant case statement for the importance of the nurturing of character, of self-confidence, and of respect forthe value of work." -- H. Peter Karoff, Founder and Chairman, The Philanthropic Initiative, Inc.

"Essential reading for insightful families" -- Sara S. Hamilton, Founder and CEO, Family Office Exchange, LLC

"Invaluable direction… an essential guide for the creation of legacy families." -- Lee Hausner, Ph.D., Author of Children of Paradise: Successful Parenting for Prosperous Families

This is the landmark book that changed the way exceptional families think about their heritage, their wealth, and their legacy to future generations - now revised and expanded. Charles W. Collier, Senior Philanthropic Adviser at Harvard University, hails this as, "A masterpiece. No one is more astute than Jay Hughes about the topics of family wealth and family life."

The landmark book that changed the way exceptional families think about their heritage, their wealth, and their legacy to future generations.

James E. Hughes Jr. is a sixth-generation counselor-at-law, now retired, and author of many influential articles on family governance and wealth preservation. He is renowned for facilitating multigenerational family meetings with an emphasis on mission statements and governance issues. Hughes speaks frequently at international and domestic symposia on estate and trust planning.

The Problem - The history of long-term wealth preservation in families is failure epitomized by the universal cultural proverb, "Shirt sleeves to shirt sleeves in three generations." The Theory: 1) Preservation of long-term family wealth is a question of human behavior. 2) Family wealth preservation is a dynamic process of group activity, or governance, that must be successfully re-energized in each successive family generation to overcome the ever-present threat of entropy. 3) The assets of a family are its individual members. 4a) The wealth of a family consists of the human and intellectual capital of its individual members; 4b) A family's financial capital is a tool to support the growth of the family's human and intellectual capital. 5) To successfully wealth preserve, a family must form a social contract among its individual members reflecting its shared values, and each successive generation as a generation must reaffirm and readopt that social compact. 6) To successfully wealth preserve, a family must agree to create a system of representative governance through which to actively practice its values. Each successive family generation must reaffirm its participation in that system of governance. 7) The mission underlying a system of family governance must be the enhancement of the pursuit of happiness of each individual family member as a part of the enhancement of the family as a whole, for the purpose of achieving long-term preservation of the family's wealth: its human, intellectual, and financial capital. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.