Three Generations, Four Trusts, No Coordinated Plan

A prominent Dallas family came to us after the death of their patriarch. He had been the family's unofficial financial decision-maker for 40 years. Over those decades, he had worked with three different attorneys, two CPAs, and four investment advisors — none of whom had ever spoken to each other.

The result was an estate that had grown complex without growing coherent:

• Four irrevocable trusts with overlapping beneficiaries and inconsistent terms
• Two family limited partnerships with outdated operating agreements
• A charitable remainder trust that had never been properly funded
• Real estate held in a patchwork of LLCs, personal names, and trust names
• Investment accounts at three different custodians with no coordinated strategy
• Life insurance policies owned by the wrong entities
• No succession plan for the family business

The second generation — three adult siblings in their 50s and 60s — were suddenly responsible for managing a structure they didn't fully understand. Each sibling had different financial needs, risk tolerances, and expectations. The grandchildren (generation three) were beginning to ask questions about inheritance and family governance.

The family faced several urgent risks:

We led a 12-month restructuring engagement, serving as the central coordinator across the family's legal, tax, and investment teams.

After 12 months:

Estate plans don't fail because they're poorly drafted. They fail because nobody coordinates them over time. Attorneys draft trusts. CPAs file returns. Advisors manage accounts. But nobody connects the dots across decades.