Storytime Vol.1
I've started a series on LinkedIn sharing stories of challenges faced by families. People typically learn best through lived examples, not just theory. Sometimes by reading more stories we gain new perspectives, recognise familiar patterns and take away ideas we can apply within our own families.
Here are the stories I shared this week.
The family office that had its name stolen
A family office I worked with had their name stolen. Not hacked. Not breached. Someone simply registered a near-identical domain, set up convincing email addresses, and began corresponding with an investor as if they were the real firm. By the time anyone realised, money had moved.
The worst part was this family office invested only its own capital. It didn't raise money from external investors or have an investor-facing business. The fraudsters simply posed as the family office, claimed to be raising funds for an investment opportunity and convinced someone to transfer money into an investment that didn't exist. Sadly, there was little the police could do. At the time, digital fraud was an incredibly complex crime to investigate.
No-one in the team had even considered this risk. One of the simplest ways to reduce this risk is to secure your digital identity and buy the common variations of your domain, i.e. the website name. Even if you don’t have a website. Register the typo versions, hyphenated versions and different domain extensions such as .com, .com.au and .net. Consider registering your business name nationally and, where appropriate, trademarking your family office name.
Digital identity is an asset. Treat it like one.
The WhatsApp group that became a family
A family of 17 people across 5 countries had never found a rhythm for staying connected. Different generations, different time zones and lots of 1-to-1 communications.
Then one family member ended up in intensive care following serious post-operative complications.
Someone created a WhatsApp group to share updates. It worked so well that when the crisis passed, nobody wanted to close it. Years later it's become something else entirely with postings of daily photos, shared adventures and the discussion of an annual newsletter that the whole family can contribute to.
For a family spread across the world, these seemingly small moments matter. They create familiarity, strengthen relationships, and help each generation feel part of something bigger than themselves.
The crisis didn't create the connection. It just gave the family the permission to start. Sometimes the best family governance tool costs nothing and fits in your pocket.
The probate problem nobody had seen before
When the patriarch of a significant family died, his estate entered probate. In one family I worked with, that meant changing the legal names on a debt facility from the matriarch and patriarch jointly to solely the matriarch.
The lender required the account holder to complete the process personally. The lawyers couldn't do it on the family's behalf. The matriarch was in her 80s and she had just lost her husband. She wasn't in a position to navigate banking forms, identity verification, phone calls and administrative processes. No one else in the family had done it before.
The death certificate was submitted. Ignored. Resubmitted. Multiple phone calls were made to general lines with weeks of no response. Escalations went nowhere.
It got there eventually, through persistence, frustration and a lot of follow up. The payoff came years later when the property was sold. The facility was aligned with the title and the sale was effortless.
Unglamorous work done properly is priceless.
What Brewster's Millions gets right about wealth
Could you spend $1 million a day... and have absolutely nothing to show for it?
That was the premise of the 1985 film Brewster's Millions. Monty Brewster is given a remarkable challenge: spend $30 million in 30 days without buying assets, giving it away or ending the month with anything of value. If he succeeds, he inherits $300 million.
Aside from being a hilarious film with Richard Pryor and John Candy, the film is a surprisingly insightful lesson in wealth.
At first, Brewster sees money as something to spend. Then he discovers it's surprisingly difficult to dispose of responsibly. Along the way, his relationship with money changes. He is beyond excited at the start, absolutely loathes it along the way and then begins to appreciate its purpose, influence and the responsibility that comes with having it.
For families who ask, “how do I raise my kids to responsibly steward significant wealth?”, this is a great lesson. Managing wealth isn't about accumulating more or spending less. It's about understanding what money is for. It's about making intentional decisions, aligning resources with your values, and recognising that wealth is ultimately a tool and not the objective.
Did you know, with Elon Musk recently anointed as the world’s first trillionaire, if he spent $1 million every day he would be 3,614 years old before he spent it all?!
If any of these stories sound familiar, or you'd like to talk through something similar in your own family, get in touch.
