Key Takeaways
- • Jay Rogers, a guest writer and USC Marshall School of Business guest lecturer, argues in Family Wealth Report that single-family office disputes have moved from private settlement into formal courtrooms, where courts apply institutional standards of care to family structures.
- • Rogers cites Cerulli Associates' projection of $84 trillion in intergenerational asset transfer through 2045, which Glenmede says could reach as high as $124 trillion, and says legal defense costs in family office disputes routinely reach seven and eight figures.
- • The SEC's Division of Examinations has named fiduciary standards compliance a top 2026 examination priority, with focus on conflicts of interest, investment advice disclosures and duty of loyalty.
- • The Citi Wealth 2025 Global Family Office Report, which surveyed 346 family offices across 45 countries, found 73 per cent of offices with more than $500 million in AUM have investment governance frameworks versus 61 per cent of smaller offices.
- • Rogers identifies outdated investment policy statements, undocumented delegation and missing contemporaneous decision records as the most common failure patterns, and recommends periodic governance review and external committee members.
Summary
Jay Rogers, who has more than 30 years of experience in private equity, private credit, hedge funds and wealth management, writes in Family Wealth Report that family offices face growing litigation exposure as family disputes over investment decisions, distribution policies, trustee selection and beneficiary rights move into courtrooms. Drawing on his work as an expert witness in complex investment and family office litigation, he says courts now apply institutional standards of care to structures long regarded as purely private, and that the costliest conflicts typically stem from governance frameworks that were never stress-tested.
Rogers links the trend to a wider regulatory and demographic backdrop. The SEC's Division of Examinations identified fiduciary standards compliance as a top examination priority for 2026. He cites Cerulli Associates' estimate that Baby Boomers and the Silent Generation will transfer about $84 trillion through 2045, a figure Glenmede has said could rise to $124 trillion. The ABA's 2026 analysis of probate litigation, as cited by Rogers, links longer life expectancy to more disputes over mental capacity, fiduciary oversight and shifting beneficiary expectations.
According to Rogers, the recurring failure patterns include investment policy statements that were never updated, delegation without documented authority or independent review, and alternative investment allocations, particularly in private equity, real estate and direct deals, that lack contemporaneous records of risk analysis and valuation. He cites a Crain Currency case in which a family office's chief legal officer and chief investment officer held unfettered investment authority, including a power of attorney from the principal.
Rogers recommends reviewing governing documents as a skeptical third party would, and asking whether the investment policy statement addresses liquidity, alternative investment parameters, conflict-of-interest protocols and succession triggers. He emphasizes consistent, contemporaneous documentation of a prudent process, noting courts assess reasonableness at the time of decision rather than outcomes, and suggests external investment committee members or scheduled third-party reviews. He also cites the Citi Wealth 2025 Global Family Office Report figures and J P Morgan's 2024 Global Family Office Report, which identified succession planning, family governance and cybersecurity as top unresolved gaps. Rogers's views are presented as those of a guest contributor.
Rogers links the trend to a wider regulatory and demographic backdrop. The SEC's Division of Examinations identified fiduciary standards compliance as a top examination priority for 2026. He cites Cerulli Associates' estimate that Baby Boomers and the Silent Generation will transfer about $84 trillion through 2045, a figure Glenmede has said could rise to $124 trillion. The ABA's 2026 analysis of probate litigation, as cited by Rogers, links longer life expectancy to more disputes over mental capacity, fiduciary oversight and shifting beneficiary expectations.
According to Rogers, the recurring failure patterns include investment policy statements that were never updated, delegation without documented authority or independent review, and alternative investment allocations, particularly in private equity, real estate and direct deals, that lack contemporaneous records of risk analysis and valuation. He cites a Crain Currency case in which a family office's chief legal officer and chief investment officer held unfettered investment authority, including a power of attorney from the principal.
Rogers recommends reviewing governing documents as a skeptical third party would, and asking whether the investment policy statement addresses liquidity, alternative investment parameters, conflict-of-interest protocols and succession triggers. He emphasizes consistent, contemporaneous documentation of a prudent process, noting courts assess reasonableness at the time of decision rather than outcomes, and suggests external investment committee members or scheduled third-party reviews. He also cites the Citi Wealth 2025 Global Family Office Report figures and J P Morgan's 2024 Global Family Office Report, which identified succession planning, family governance and cybersecurity as top unresolved gaps. Rogers's views are presented as those of a guest contributor.
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