For families whose wealth spans borders, asset classes, operating businesses, and generations, legal counsel must do more than prepare documents. It must align tax, trusts and estates, investment and transaction structuring, corporate, real estate, executive and incentive compensation, philanthropy, art, yachts, aviation, and other personal assets, risk management, and business succession into a coordinated strategy designed to build, preserve, protect, and transfer wealth in an increasingly complex global environment.
Akerman’s Family Office Practice advises ultra-high-net-worth families, family offices, family-owned enterprises, fiduciaries, and closely held investment vehicles on sophisticated domestic and cross-border planning, structuring, governance, and dispute-resolution needs. We draw on capabilities across the firm, from tax and trusts and estates to corporate, real estate, litigation, and international matters, to provide integrated counsel through a single, relationship-driven point of contact.
Our approach is discreet, practical, and collaborative. We work closely with family principals, family office executives, trustees, accountants, investment managers, bankers, insurance advisors, and other trusted professionals to help families make informed decisions, anticipate risk, and implement structures that reflect their objectives, values, and legacy.
Single-Family and Multi-Family Offices
We advise both single-family and multi-family offices on the legal frameworks that support formation, governance, operations, investment activity, regulatory compliance, compensation arrangements, fiduciary obligations, and intergenerational transitions.
Coordinated Approach to Wealth Preservation and Growth
Family office planning requires legal advice that extends beyond any single discipline. Our lawyers provide strategic, long-term counsel that helps families preserve flexibility while managing risk and preparing for future generations.
Our team advises across the full life cycle of family wealth: from family office formation and operating structures to succession planning; from domestic trusts to multi-jurisdictional holding companies; from private foundation governance to art, yacht, aviation, real estate, and other special asset planning; and from investment activity to tax controversy and fiduciary disputes. We serve families with connections across the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Latin America, and Asia, providing holistic, responsive, and relationship-based counsel.
