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At its core, a family office is a private business owned by a family of significant wealth to serve its unique financial and personal needs. Family offices are often established to help provide the structure and governance to effectively steward a family’s assets, shared values and long-term legacy. While on paper, a family office may sound like a simple solution, but the reality is that family offices can take many forms and vary greatly in complexity.

A common saying in the industry is “if you’ve seen one family office, you’ve seen one family office.” Just like families, every family office is different, and there is no “one-size-fits-all” solution. That said, establishing and maintaining a single-family office often requires significant financial and personal resources. Given this, family offices are often viable solutions for families that have significant wealth (generally at least a few hundred million in assets), and more unique needs or family dynamics.

Creating the right family office for your family’s goals requires a clear understanding of what you are trying to achieve, as well as the cost considerations. The process should start by articulating your family’s overall vision, the intended purpose of the family office, and determining who will be served by it. From there, a determination of the scope of services and the office legal structure should follow. At J.P. Morgan, we have the experience and knowledge to help guide you through this important decision-making process.

The services provided by a family office vary depending on the specific needs and goals of your family. Many family offices are established to help families manage their investments, provide wealth advisory services and alleviate administrative burden—and then potentially expand from there based on the family’s broader needs and goals. Common family office services include investment management, estate planning, family governance, family wealth education, philanthropy, accounting and tax oversight, banking and liquidity management, risk management and concierge services.