Defining “Family”

Highlighted by the recent Supreme Court same-sex marriage decisions, the trusts and estates community has long struggled withdefining “family.”

In existing trusts, those who don’t define terms like“child,” “spouse,” or “grandchild” within the trust instrument must apply thegoverning law by default.  Attorneysshould ask clients the right questions in order to mitigate foreseeabledisparities or unintended consequences, like leaving out stepchildren. 

For families owning private businesses, governing documentslike corporate by-laws or LLC operating agreements need to be carefully drafted to include those family members who are intended to be or become eligibleowners.  And for family enterprises likefamily businesses, charitable foundations, and investment entities, familiesneed to determine how family is defined. For example, general family meetings might be much more inclusive of allfamily members while a family business might restrict “family” to directdescendants of the bloodline.

There’s no single right answer for defining “family,” just aright answer for the particular situation. 

See PatriciaAngus, What Is a “Family?”, WealthManagement, June 28, 2013.

Special thanks toJim Hillhouse (Professional Legal Marketing (PLM, Inc.)) for bringingthis article to my attention.