On September 13, 2018, I am pleased to be presenting, along with Julie Min Chayet of U.S. Trust, to the Probate and Estates Committee of the Fairfield County Bar Association in Stamford, CT. Our topic concerns a perennial challenge to attorneys: “Managing Family Dynamics in Estate Planning and Trust Administration”. The presentation has been approved […]
Pierre duPont on Raising Children Into Wealth
Pierre du Pont recently published a LinkedIn article titled “Raising Children Into Wealth: Hungry, Productive and Compassionate“. In it, Pierre shares some excellent insights and suggestions about raising children to be the kind of young people (and, eventually, even older people) who handle wealth successfully. Although common sense is a start, there is more to […]
How my work with ostriches helps families and their businesses handle conflict
It can be tempting for all of us to choose not to handle conflict. That’s part of why I work with ostriches: the human equivalent of the birds who (mythically) react to problems by burying their heads in the sand. It’s not a good option for birds (asphyxiation) or humans (problems get worse as you […]
Family vacation homes — joys and challenges
As we close in on the last big holiday weekend, I am thinking about family vacation homes. Family vacation homes are the source of both joys and challenges. In the movies, it’s all about the joy of the family being together, in a treasured location. In reality, the challenges of maintaining, sharing, and planning for […]
Silence is golden, except when it isn’t
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. […]
Certificates Earned in Family Business Advising and Family Wealth Advising
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 […]
WSJ on “Sibling Rivalry and Estate Planning”
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 […]
New York Times article highlights value of Elder Mediation
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 […]
Kenneth Feinberg, 9/11, and estate planning
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 […]
Sperner’s lemma and the challenge of dividing prized possessions
Yesterday’s New York Times included an article in the Science Times titled “To Divide the Rent, Start With a Triangle” by Albert Sun. He described how Sperner’s lemma could be used for a procedure for fair division of rent in an apartment with three bedrooms of different sizes and other features. Dr. Francis Su had […]
