Align Your Family.
Protect Your Legacy.
Wealth without structure can become a source of conflict rather than opportunity. Family governance is the framework that helps families communicate clearly, make decisions together, and ensure that wealth transfers successfully to the next generation.
At Pelican Family Office, we help families build the governance structures, communication norms, and educational practices that turn financial success into a lasting legacy.
Whether you’re managing a family business, navigating complex family dynamics, or planning for generational wealth transfer, we provide the guidance and frameworks to bring your family into alignment.
- Legacy that reflects your values:
We help families articulate and institutionalize the values, principles, and goals that should guide how wealth is used and passed on.
- Preparing the next generation:
Financial literacy, responsibility, and stewardship don’t happen automatically. We help families create the education and engagement strategies that prepare heirs for the responsibility ahead.
- Coordination with legal and estate planning:
Family governance doesn’t stand alone. It’s integrated with your estate plan, trust structures, and business succession strategy for a fully aligned legacy plan.
The Pelican Family Office Approach
Bringing Families Together Around Shared Purpose and Clear Structure
Facilitated Family Conversations: We help facilitate the difficult but important conversations families need to have about values, expectations, roles, and the purpose of wealth in a structured and productive way.
Family Mission and Vision Development: We guide families through the process of articulating a shared mission and vision that anchors decision-making and wealth distribution in a common purpose.
Governance Structure Design: From family councils and advisory boards to formal charters and decision-making protocols, we help design the structures that give families clarity and accountability.
Next-Generation Education: We develop age-appropriate programs and conversations to prepare the next generation for their roles as stewards of the family’s wealth and values.
Integration with Estate and Legal Planning: Family governance is most effective when it’s fully aligned with your estate plan, trust documents, and business succession strategy. Our teams work together to ensure complete coordination.
Long-Term Engagement: Family dynamics evolve. We remain engaged over time, revisiting governance structures, facilitating family meetings, and supporting your family through transitions.
Who It’s For
Family governance is for families who have built meaningful wealth and want to ensure it strengthens, rather than strains, family relationships across generations.
It’s for business-owning families preparing for a transition, parents who want to intentionally prepare their children for financial responsibility, and multi-generational families navigating the complexities of shared assets, differing priorities, and long-term legacy planning.
f you’ve ever wondered how to talk to your family about money, how to ensure your values outlast your assets, or how to prepare the next generation to be responsible stewards of what you’ve built, this service is designed for you.
The Process
- Family Discovery & Assessment:
We begin by understanding your family’s structure, dynamics, existing plans, and goals to identify where governance frameworks will have the greatest impact.
- Governance Design & Planning:
We develop customized governance structures that fit your family’s unique needs.
- Implementation & Facilitation:
We facilitate family meetings, guide the rollout of governance structures, and provide ongoing support as your family begins operating within the new framework.
- Ongoing Governance Support:
Family governance is not a one-time project. We remain engaged as your family grows, as generational transitions approach, and as your governance needs evolve over time.
Related Multi-Family Office Services
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Multi-Family Office?
A Multi-Family Office is a coordinated planning model where your CPA, financial advisor, attorney, insurance strategist, and advanced planning specialists work together as one unified team.
Instead of fragmented advice, you receive one strategy, one plan, and one timeline across your entire financial life.
How is Pelican different from traditional financial advisors?
Most advisors work in silos. Investments here, taxes over there, legal somewhere else. You’re left to connect the dots. Pelican eliminates that burden by integrating everyone into one coordinated system, proactively timing decisions around tax windows, planning deadlines, life events, and business moves.
Who is Pelican Family Office designed for?
We serve:
- High-earning individuals 550K AGI or more
- Multigenerational families
- Successful business owners
- Entrepreneurs planning exits
- Clients who want tax-smart, coordinated decisions
- CPAs seeking a planning partner for their best clients
If your financial life has complexity, Pelican brings clarity.
Do you replace my CPA, attorney, or advisors?
No. We enhance them.
Your professionals stay in place; Pelican simply coordinates the team and fills in planning gaps.
If you need additional specialists, we bring them to the table.
How do you charge for your services?
Simple and transparent.
Based on your situation, this may include:
- A flat annual advisory fee, or
- An assets-under-supervision fee, or
- A project-based fee for specialized planning
We provide clarity up front. No surprises, no hidden layers, no commissions on planning.
Do I need a certain net worth or income?
Pelican is designed for individuals, families, and business owners who:
- Want advanced planning and tax coordination
- Have complexity (multiple accounts, entities, or assets)
- Value proactive advice instead of reactive service
Most clients have $2M–$50M+ in assets or are business owners with meaningful planning needs and earn 550K or more in AGI.
How does Pelican coordinate with my CPA?
We meet with your CPA regularly, share planning agendas, and coordinate tax timing with your investment and business strategies.
You no longer relay messages; we handle the coordination so your CPA can do their best work.
What technology do you use?
Clients receive a secure digital portal that organizes:
- Net worth
- Investment accounts
- Estate & legal documents
- Tax documents
- Insurance summaries
- Business interests
- Projections
- Plan comarisons real time
Everything is centralized for transparency and efficiency.
How often do we meet?
Most clients follow a structured review process:
- Quarterly strategy updates
- Annual tax strategy session
- Annual estate & legacy review
- Business planning meetings, as needed
- Unlimited support for major decisions
We meet as much as your situation requires, no extra fees.
How do I get started?
We begin with a short discovery conversation to understand your goals, concerns, and current advisory structure.
From there, we conduct a Clarity & Coordination Assessment to identify gaps, opportunities, and tax savings potential.