Will

A will is a legal document directing how a person's assets are distributed at death and, where relevant, who will care for minor children. It appoints an executor, the person or institution responsible for gathering the assets, settling debts, and carrying out the instructions. A will can be updated throughout life, either by making a new one or by adding a codicil, a formal amendment, and only the latest valid version speaks at death.

Dying without a valid will is called intestacy. In that case, statutory default rules decide who inherits, in fixed shares set by law rather than by the family's wishes, an outcome no wealthy family intends.

Why it matters for family offices

For wealthy families, the will is rarely the main event, but it is always the backstop. Much of the wealth typically passes outside it, through trusts settled during life, company structures, and accounts with designated beneficiaries. The will catches whatever remains: personal effects, art, homes held in personal names, accounts that were never moved into a structure. Wills are often drafted to pour these residual assets into an existing trust, so that everything ends up governed by one coherent plan.

Two disciplines keep a will useful. It must stay current, revisited after marriages, divorces, births, deaths, and major asset sales, because an outdated will can cause more conflict than none at all. And families with assets in several countries often need coordinated wills, drafted so the documents work together rather than accidentally revoking one another.

How it shows up in practice

When a principal dies, the executor's first task is simply finding everything. The trusts carry on under their trustees, but the estate passing under the will must be located, valued, and protected: the house, the art collection, the personal accounts, the shares that were never transferred into the holding structure. An executor working from a current wealth map, with documents and account records kept in one accessible place, can move in weeks. One working from a drawer of old statements can take years, at real cost to the estate. Family offices often treat the will, the asset inventory, and the document archive as one connected responsibility for exactly this reason.