How can a family leave a multifamily office, and what happens to its records and relationships?
A family usually leaves by following its engagement agreement, giving written notice, settling fees, and creating a transfer plan. The office should return or transfer records the family owns or is entitled to receive, while retaining records it must keep under law or contract. The family should also reauthorize custodians, trustees, advisers, and other providers.
Start with the agreement and a written exit plan
Review the engagement letter, fee schedule, notice period, termination rights, and any transition charges. Send written notice through the method the agreement specifies. Name one family decision maker and one replacement contact. Set a final service date, list open work, and agree how invoices, tax work, payments, and pending transactions will be handled.
Build a transfer checklist. Include entities, accounts, trusts, insurance, properties, private investments, reporting calendars, passwords, standing instructions, and key contacts. Ask the office to identify every outside provider it coordinates with. A short overlap period can reduce missed deadlines and unanswered requests.
Records usually split into family files and required firm records
Ask for copies or originals of records the family owns or is entitled to receive, including governing documents, account statements, tax filings, valuations, investment records, contracts, insurance policies, property files, and correspondence. The engagement agreement and applicable law determine what the office must deliver and what it may retain. Document treatment should be addressed in the engagement agreement or termination agreement. ICAEW
If the multifamily office is a registered investment adviser, it may have to preserve specified books and records for at least five years, with the first two years in an appropriate office. That retention duty does not remove the family's access to information it is entitled to receive. Request a secure data export, an index, file formats, and a written retention and destruction schedule. SEC
It's a word document that's planning. So your whole family and your top service providers are all on the same page. And they know the wealth creation story, and they know what to shield you from and what to focus on. Every single investor should have that, whether you're worth 5 million or 500 million.
Relationships need deliberate handoffs
Leaving one office does not automatically move authority at a bank, custodian, trustee, accountant, attorney, insurer, or private fund. The family must complete each provider's change-of-adviser, authorization, signature, and privacy procedures. Confirm who can give instructions after the termination date. Revoke old access only after the replacement team confirms it can work.
Ask the departing office for factual introductions and a contact list. Keep the tone professional. A clean handoff protects institutional memory and helps preserve useful relationships. Family governance works best when responsibilities, decision rights, and provider roles are documented rather than carried only in personal relationships. Bernstein
Related guides
- Family Governance With a Multifamily Office
- MFO vs SFO vs RIA vs Private Bank: Which Fits Your Family?
- Access to Alternatives Through an MFO: A Practical Guide for Families