By: Dr. Tamara Patzer
October 12, 2026
In Brief: Families often assume the choice is a full family office or nothing. A New Orleans tax attorney lays out three paths instead: a full office, a part-time coordinator, or a calendar and a map, and gives a one-page grid for deciding among them, anchored in current national figures on wealth and generational transfer.
People tend to see the family office decision as a switch: build one or do not. In practice, there are at least three settings between off and on. A family can run a full office with its own staff. It can hire a part-time coordinator who works across the family’s advisers. Or it can start with a map and a calendar and see what that reveals. Todd M. Villarrubia, a New Orleans attorney who focuses on tax and estate planning, wrote Entrepreneurial B.E.A.S.T. Mode™ partly to help families tell which setting fits. This grid distills his reasoning.
Why Does the Choice Matter Now?
Because the volume of wealth about to change hands is large and the habits around it are not. Cerulli Associates expects $124 trillion to pass between U.S. generations through 2048, with $105 trillion to heirs and $18 trillion to charity1. Federal Reserve data show about $60.3 trillion of net worth held by the top 1% in the second quarter of 20262. Families at many levels will face questions about how their wealth is run, and not all of them need the same answer.
How Does the Book Describe the Origin of the Idea?
Modestly. Villarrubia writes, “The family office emerged not from theory but from necessity.” The line is a reminder that the form follows a need. A family should not adopt an office because others have one. It should adopt the amount of structure its situation requires.
What Is the First Path: A Map and a Calendar?
This is the lightest option and the right starting point for most families. It costs little: a page that lists entities, accounts, documents and advisers, and a calendar of deadlines and decisions. It adds one habit, a quarterly meeting where the advisers sit together.
It suits a family with a single company or a few assets, advisers who are willing to cooperate and no pressing transition. It is also the right test for everyone else. If a family cannot keep a page current and hold four meetings a year, it is not ready for something larger.
What Is the Second Path: A Coordinator?
A coordinator is a person who works across the advisers on the family’s behalf. The role may be filled by a trusted attorney, a senior financial professional or a part-time hire. Their job is to maintain the map, run the calendar, collect information and chase open items.
It suits a family whose affairs have outgrown a quarterly meeting: several entities, property in more than one state, a transition on the horizon or a next generation to bring in. The author notes that the arrangement should reflect the family’s goals and not just its balance sheet: “While similar to wealth management firms, family offices place a greater emphasis on personalized, long-term goals and legacy.”
What Is the Third Path: A Full Office?
A full family office has its own staff, systems and often its own legal structure. It handles investments, tax coordination, record keeping, family communication and sometimes lifestyle matters. It is a serious commitment of money and attention, and it makes sense when the volume of work justifies it.
The book calls it infrastructure for long horizons, and says the best ones see their role as larger than money: “The most successful family offices recognize that they’re not merely managing assets but stewarding family ecosystems.” That description fits a family with many members, many assets and a commitment to keep them together for decades.
What Does the Grid Look Like?
Score your family from one to three on each of five rows, with one meaning simple and three meaning complex.
- Entities and accounts: a handful, a dozen or dozens.
- Locations: one state, two or three, or many.
- Family members involved: a couple, a group of adults or several households.
- Transitions expected in five years: none, one or several.
- Advisers: willing to cooperate, mixed or siloed.
A total of five to seven points suggests the first path. Eight to eleven suggests a coordinator. Twelve or more suggests exploring a full office. The numbers are a heuristic and not a rule, and a licensed attorney can say how they apply to a given family.
What About Cost?
It varies widely and no figure in this article should be taken as a benchmark. The sound comparison is between the cost of the structure and the cost of the problems it would prevent: duplicated fees, missed deadlines, conflicting advice, disputes. If the second set is larger, the case is made.
Income level alone does not decide it. The Tax Foundation’s analysis found that a filer needed about $676,000 of adjusted gross income in tax year 2023 to reach the top 1%3. Many families that need coordination are well below that line, and some above it do not need an office at all.
When Should a Family Move From One Path to the Next?
When the lighter arrangement stops working. Signs include missed deadlines, advisers who contradict each other, a family member who cannot find a document, or an event such as a sale or a death that shows how fragile the system is. Moving up in response to those signs is sensible. Jumping to the top path before a family has tried a lighter one often leads to disappointment.
The reverse is also possible. A family that built a large structure and finds it too heavy can simplify. The goal is a structure that fits.
What Do All Three Paths Share?
A single set of facts, a named person responsible and a regular meeting. The book says the real test is whether the family can afford to go without coordination, and the answer is rarely yes.
Common Questions
Can I try the first path myself? Yes. Bring the result to your attorney and tax professional for correction.
Do I need to decide today? No. Start with the map and revisit the grid in a year.
Who should I ask about the right level? A licensed attorney who works with business-owning families is a sensible first call.
Sources
- NAPA-Net, Wealth Transfers Expected to Hit $124 Trillion Through 2048 (reporting Cerulli)
- Federal Reserve Distributional Financial Accounts, Net Worth Held by the Top 1% (FRED)
- Tax Foundation, Who Pays Federal Income Taxes? Tax Year 2023
About the Author: Dr. Tamara Patzer is a publisher and former newspaper editor. She was on the staff of The Charlotte Sun when it was named a 2005 Pulitzer Prize finalist for its Hurricane Charley coverage.
About the Source: Todd M. Villarrubia is an attorney with an LL.M. in Taxation and a Juris Doctorate. He is an Accredited Estate Planner, a Board Certified Expert in Estate Planning and Administration, and a Fiduciary Investment Advisor Representative. He is the author of Entrepreneurial B.E.A.S.T. Mode™.
Wealth Planning Law Group, 101 W. Robert E. Lee Blvd., Ste 404, New Orleans, LA 70124.
Phone: 504-982-8207
Email: todd@lawealthplan.com
Website: Wealth Planning Law Group
Disclaimer: Attorney advertising. Sponsored feature written on behalf of Todd M. Villarrubia. This article is general information, not legal or tax advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Results vary.
