What should a family charter contain?

A family charter typically sets out the family's values and purpose, the principles governing its wealth, the roles and authority of any council or board, how decisions are made and disputes resolved, and how the next generation is educated and admitted. It need not be long; a short, clear charter the family follows is worth more than a thick document no one reads.

Why do families need formal governance?

Because as a family grows, informal decision-making stalls: dozens of owners cannot run anything by consensus, and disagreements without agreed rules become disputes. Formal governance lets a growing family act coherently and survive conflict. Deloitte's 2024 study documents family offices increasingly formalising governance and boards as their wealth and complexity rise.

When should a family build its governance?

While the family is aligned and can agree calmly, not during a conflict. A charter and council agreed in good times hold through the moments they were built for, after a death, divorce or dispute. Governance attempted after a rift has begun rarely succeeds, because the family can no longer negotiate the terms. Build it early, as an act of foresight.

Governance & succession

How to Design a Family Governance Framework

A family governance framework is the set of agreements and bodies that decide how a family makes decisions about its shared wealth: a family charter setting values and rules, a governance body such as a family council or board, defined decision rights, and mechanisms for information, entry and dispute resolution. Its purpose is to let a growing family act coherently across generations. Like most governance, it is far easier to build before conflict than during it.

Key points

Governance is how a family decides together; without it, a growing family stalls or splits.
The core parts are a charter, a governing body, clear decision rights, and dispute rules.
It sits alongside the legal structure, giving the entities a human decision-making layer.
Deloitte finds family offices increasingly formalising governance as they scale (2024).
Build it while the family is aligned; a charter agreed in calm holds in conflict.

What it is

A family governance framework is the human counterpart to the legal structure. The trust, foundation and companies say who owns and who may decide in law; governance says how the family actually reaches those decisions, resolves disagreement, and passes responsibility to the next generation. A structure without governance is a set of entities with no agreed way to run them; governance without structure is a set of good intentions with no legal force. Durable families build both.

As families and their offices grow, this shift from informal to formal governance is one of the clearest trends in the sector: Deloitte's 2024 study of the global family-office landscape documents families professionalising boards, decision-making and next-generation involvement as their wealth and complexity rise.

The core components

Four components recur. A family charter, the constitution, setting out the family's values, purpose, and the principles that govern its wealth. A governing body, often a family council or a board, with defined membership and authority, that actually takes or oversees decisions. A clear allocation of decision rights, which decisions belong to owners, which to the board or council, and which to management, so that authority is not ambiguous. And mechanisms for the recurring frictions: how information flows to owners, how the next generation is educated and admitted, how members can exit, and how disputes are resolved before they become litigation.

None of these needs to be elaborate. A short, clear charter and a functioning council beat a thick document no one follows. The test is whether the family can make a hard decision, and survive a disagreement, using what it has written down.

How to build it

Build governance the way you would build any durable institution: with the people it will bind, not for them. That means involving the family in drafting the charter so they own it, starting simple and letting the framework mature as the family grows, and aligning it with the legal structure so that what the charter says and what the documents permit do not conflict. Where authority is meant to be concentrated, the governance and the share or foundation structure must agree on who holds it.

And build it early. A governance framework agreed while the family is aligned is a tool that holds through the moments it was made for; one attempted after a rift has begun rarely succeeds. Governance is foresight written down, and its value shows precisely when the family can no longer improvise.

Frequently asked questions

It is the set of agreements and bodies that decide how a family makes decisions about its shared wealth: a family charter of values and rules, a governing body such as a family council or board, a clear allocation of decision rights, and mechanisms for information, next-generation entry and dispute resolution. It is the human decision-making layer that sits alongside the legal structure.

Sources: Deloitte Private, Defining the Family Office Landscape 2024, on the professionalisation of family-office governance, boards and next-generation involvement as wealth and complexity rise. General family-governance practice on charters, councils, decision rights and dispute resolution. Educational content, not legal advice; a governance framework should be designed with the family and qualified advisers.

This Resource is provided by Caelius for general information and educational purposes only. It does not constitute investment, legal, tax or financial advice, nor an offer or solicitation. It is general in nature, may not apply to your circumstances, and may change without notice. Take any decision only after advice from qualified professionals who know your situation.