Amid rising complexity and market uncertainty, family offices are confronting big-picture questions for 2026 about purpose, participation and long-term design.
“My sense is that family offices are entering a period where external complexity is rising faster than many of their internal structures were designed to accommodate,” says Bryn Monahan, senior consultant with Relative Solutions and board member for Foster Holdings, Inc. “Generational transitions, shifting social expectations, and the realities of more geographically dispersed and diverse families all require new approaches to communication, governance and shared decision-making. At the same time, rapid technological change, cultural polarization and geopolitical uncertainty are pushing families to make values-based decisions in an environment where those values may be regularly tested.”
All of this can make it challenging for family offices to maintain cohesion.
“The family offices that navigate 2026 most effectively will be those that invest not only in strategy and systems, but in relationships, transparency and thoughtful governance that can flex with the times,” Monahan says.
Family offices are also facing real competition from outside providers — it is no longer assumed that the single family office is the best option for family members.
“There are so many good (along with the bad) alternatives for the services that single family offices have historically provided,” says Rob Raich, president of Abacus and Associates, Inc. “A single family office should be able to provide the best, independent, loyal advice and services — but it’s not a given, and it’s not easy. We need to continue to be the best option for our families, or we are destroying value, not creating it.”
Asking the right questions
To remain relevant, family offices are focusing on matching their long-term plans to the reality of the family’s needs and structure. An informal survey of family office leaders about how they are approaching 2026 surfaced questions in three key areas:
1. How does the family office serve the family’s long-term purpose?
Families are revisiting what they want from their office and whether current structures support those goals.
Celine Fitzgerald, a G3 member of Webb & O’Neill Capital and president of the Fitzgerald Family Foundation, says her family office is working on a five- to 10-year plan, looking at issues such as investing policies and vehicles, security and the purpose of long-term trusts.
Underneath these issues lies a choice that family offices need to make as part of their long-term planning: how much to invest in the infrastructure of a single family office.
“Are we setting ourselves up to run for several generations and invest in the costly operation to serve the next and the next? Or are we running a lean operation, outsourcing and then joining a MFO in the future?” Fitzgerald says. “If the next generation is not interested in being part of the SFO, in one way or another, is there a point to investing large sums?
2. Who wants to be involved today—and who does not?
Before they work on long-term planning, family offices need to assess the engagement of their current family members.
If the rising gen family members are not engaged, some families will try to engage them — for example, by holding family meetings in enticing locations in hopes of boosting attendance. But other families may simply decide to shift to a more hands-off wealth management strategy for the next generation.
“It depends on the family. There are some that try to look for ways to create interest, for example through investing in things that might interest the next generation,” says Abbey Flaum, partner and family wealth strategist at HB Wealth.
But sometimes the children aren’t interested, and sometimes the older generations don’t want them to be.
“Not every child is meant to be involved in the management of assets,” Flaum says.
3. When and how should outdated trust structures be modernized?
Another key piece of preparing the family office for the future is making sure legal documents are up to date. Older legal documents may not include the type of flexible language that is common today.
“Older documents often become stale,” Flaum says. “Many families have had certain trusts for many years, and as a result of changes that come with time, wealth and family dynamics, I have done a lot of work modifying trusts to accommodate families as they are today.”
This can include streamlining trust structures — though it’s important to be careful not to cause tax or other ramifications.
“I’ve had some families where each child has six trusts set up for them,” Flaum says. “You can’t necessarily combine all six trusts, but sometimes you can merge two or three if law and provisions allow and it makes good sense to do so.”
Considerations in long-term planning
It takes time to consider questions like these. Jill Barber, president of CYMI Holdings, says one of her office’s challenges is “creating the space and structure for our team to think strategically—to step back from day-to-day execution and focus on what will most effectively advance the family’s shared purpose over time.”
And family offices will still face tension between making space for long-term thinking and responding to immediate demands.
“Balancing long-term family support with rapid change requires constant vigilance, adaptability and disciplined planning,” says Tom Lee, CEO of the Pepin Family Office. “That means strengthening governance, refining communication, and ensuring our investment strategy remains both resilient and aligned with the family’s values.”