Do I want a family office?
Learn what successful families do to simplify their financial lives. You can create a virtual family office, a multi-family office or your own private family office. Learn about the benefits, including having experts in tax, legal, investment, philanthropy, governance, insurance, trustee work, and therapists too. Learn about some of the key reasons families create family office, namely asset protection and confidentiality.
As always, it is good to have an expert on your side.
Nathan Merrill:
Welcome to the Expert Network Team podcast.
All right — welcome to today’s podcast. I jumped in there with you, Karl, because I have the distinct pleasure of introducing today’s guest. Well, you know her. I know her very well. She’s actually a member of the podcast now — we inducted her in because of my need for an occasional replacement.
Taylor Smith, welcome to the podcast for your first time as a guest.
Taylor Smith:
Rockstar. Yes — hello!
Nathan Merrill:
Today we’re going to showcase Taylor a little bit. Taylor is the head of our Emerging Family Office Practice Group and Wealth Transfer Practice, as it’s been historically called.
One of the reasons I think it’s good for us to showcase Taylor today is to talk about what distinctly makes a family office practice different from wealth transfer in general. We can juxtapose those and help people understand, because “family office” can mean a lot of different things — just like wealth transfer.
We’ve had wealth transfer conversations in the past, talking about charitable trusts and all those fun things, so I’m sure we’ll cover a ton of ground today. Taylor’s almost as passionate about this stuff as I am.
Taylor is located in Tulsa, Oklahoma — our resident Southerner — and does great work. Taylor, do you want to add anything?
Karl Frank:
I’m just excited to learn more and begin at the beginning, because a family office is really a different thing. If I have wealth in my family and generations that I want to transfer it to, I might want to use your services. How does that work? What does that look like?
Nathan Merrill:
Taylor, I’ll tee you up here, because “family office” is one of those things that has some misconception around it. Why don’t you talk about what a family office once was — and what it’s become?
Taylor Smith:
Sure. Family office is interesting because what we understand today to be a family office is kind of a mixed bag. Traditionally, it wasn’t really contemplated as a separate entity. It developed organically.
Large families operated successful businesses, and over time, they had teams inside those companies that started taking care of personal family needs — travel arrangements, mail services, household coordination — all those personal touches.
Eventually, that created conflicts with outside investors, so families began spinning off those services into separate structures. That’s how family offices evolved.
Today, it’s often driven by tax considerations, but at its foundation it’s functional: a group of people set up to manage everything busy families don’t want to manage themselves.
Nathan Merrill:
Exactly. And globally, this has existed for generations — especially among multigenerational families.
Let’s distinguish family office from a trustee role. Why not just use a trustee? What does a family office add?
Taylor Smith:
A family office is essentially a family enterprise whose only job is managing family assets, people, and governance. It can be small and tailored — or extremely expansive with estate managers, international property teams, philanthropy committees, and investment groups.
Many families enter this world through investments — private equity, direct investing — or after selling a business and suddenly managing significant wealth for the first time.
That’s when building relationships with specialized service providers becomes critical.
Nathan Merrill:
And at a certain dollar level, there’s real value in creating a family office. It becomes an operating business providing wealth management, property management, investment advisory, and family services — which allows expenses to be deducted as business expenses.
Taylor, explain why that’s so key.
Taylor Smith:
Imagine you’ve just sold your business. Your “pile” just got much bigger. You’re paying wealth managers, attorneys, accountants — all these services add up.
With a family office, you internalize those roles. You build a team around it. The same jobs get done, but now it’s your enterprise, and many of those expenses become deductible.
But it has to make financial sense. If you’re not spending enough annually on advisory services, building a family office may not be worthwhile.
Karl Frank:
And there are tiers — single family offices, multi-family offices, and virtual family offices. Most new-to-wealth families start virtually before building something larger.
Taylor Smith:
Yes — and estate planning plays a huge role. Not just death planning, but asset protection while clients are alive.
Trusts are powerful tools. Ownership is separated from control. The goal is often: own nothing, control everything.
We use layered structures — LLCs, holding companies, trusts — designed to protect assets and preserve confidentiality. Ideally, your name isn’t easily discoverable in public records.
Nathan Merrill:
Asset protection and confidentiality.
Taylor Smith:
Exactly. Families worry about lawsuits, children inheriting too early, or internal conflict. Moving money is easy. Preparing people is hard.
Without communication, governance, and shared values, wealth can unravel by the second generation.
Family offices help create structure, expectations, and continuity.
Karl Frank:
It’s about people, not just money.
Taylor Smith:
Yes. Families need ongoing engagement — preparing Gen 2 to lead Gen 3. It’s a lifelong process.
Nathan Merrill:
Family is complicated. It’s wonderful — and it’s hard.
Taylor, thank you for this introduction to family offices.
Nathan Merrill:
Thank you for joining us today. We hope you enjoyed the discussion and found it useful.
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If you’d like to meet with a member of the Expert Network Team or suggest a topic, email us at info@expertnetworkteam.com.
Thank you for joining us, and have a great day.
Disclaimer:
Listening to this podcast does not establish a client-professional relationship with any firms represented and does not constitute legal, investment, accounting, or fiduciary advice. Views expressed are those of the professionals only.
Investment advisory services may be provided through ANI Wealth Management. Securities may be provided through Genios Wealth Management.