Few issues generate more concern and anxiety for wealth creators and their families than succession of decision-making and control. Even when holdings are institutional in scale, family dynamics may dominate, including sibling rivalry, parent-child tensions and recurring behavioral patterns. Thus, planning for a governance process across generations can be critical to favorable outcomes. Below is a roadmap to help guide your succession planning journey.

1) Define the Scope of Your Family Enterprise

As individual planets constitute a galaxy, often many entities make up a family enterprise. They may include an operating business or investment fund, philanthropic vehicles such as a donor-advised fund or private foundation, and investment and operating entities, all potentially coordinated by a family office. Succession plans are often needed for all of them. The good news is that multiple entities can accommodate more roles for family members who want to be involved.

2) Define Long-Term Success

Before launching detailed plans for family governance, you may benefit from envisioning your long-term hopes for family and business. This process involves both introspection and discussion with your spouse and others. Remember that a family’s wealth across time includes not only its financial assets, but its “human capital”—the health and wellness of your family as they seek to lead fulfilling lives in harmony with their talents and interests.

3) Focus on the Job Description, Not the Individual

In succession planning, the decision to designate certain children to assume control of your enterprise can raise concerns about exacerbating family conflicts. Some founders may conclude that selling to outsiders is the only way to avoid family and business strife. Before making any decisions, it’s worthwhile to think first about the qualities and skills needed to maintain business cohesion and grow the family’s wealth. Children may be prepared for wealth stewardship in the future, with certain family members also suited (with training and experience) to actually operate a family business or entity.

4) Set a Framework for Decision-Making

Because wealth preparation at some point entails wealth disclosure, founders often delay laying the groundwork for success. Wealth communication, however, may proceed without having to disclose any dollar amounts; you may instead focus first on communicating what you would like family wealth to support (or not support). You can also have a positive impact on your family's future by clarifying spending, investment and other operational policies, and integrating professional and institutional perspectives into decision-making processes.

5) Reinforce Your Spouse’s Understanding

In the push toward succession planning, it’s easy to forget that your spouse can play an important role, both in ensuring continuity and cultivating future stewardship. It’s critical to review with your spouse contingency plans and estate planning documents to protect the family and business in the event of disruption and avoid vulnerability to outside influence. Even with a prenuptial agreement in place, reviewing the flow of steps to take in the event of death or incapacity could help your spouse work productively with advisors.

6) Have ‘the Conversation’

You may find that your heirs are ready and able to take the reins of the family business, or alternatively, you may think they lack the drive, interest or capability to run it. For their part, your children may assume that leadership roles have been earmarked for someone else or that they need more training to assume leadership. To gain clarity on the issue of succession, it’s important to engage in candid conversation—both to share your vision and understand their interests and priorities—ideally on a periodic basis. This can help you plan effectively for their roles and the overall trajectory for the enterprise.

7) Integrate Succession Into Legal Documents

For both immediate contingency planning and long-term succession, it’s vital to coordinate with your estate planning attorney periodically to ensure that your documents align with your intent. These generally include wills, trust instruments, shareholder (including buy-sell) agreements and employment agreements, as well as insurance policies, life insurance trusts, beneficiary designations, deferred compensation plans, health care proxies, living wills, powers of attorney and health information disclosure forms.

8) Establish a Development Runway

Your willingness to invest time and resources in cultivating the talents of your children may help motivate them to take on leadership roles. Consider offering them internships to gain more business exposure; to build their credibility within the business, avoid guaranteeing them eventual leadership roles; encourage them to work elsewhere to gain experience; require that they train in communication, negotiation and other relationship-based skills; match them with outside mentors; and give them room to both succeed and make mistakes. The company board and management can help in cultivating and assessing family members for potential leadership.

9) Hold Regular Family Meetings

Effective succession planning typically entails regular communication to all family shareholders, whether active in the business or not. Many closely held corporations operate for years without a formal annual meeting, leaving non-insiders in the dark. But such meetings provide a valuable opportunity for the family to learn, raise relevant questions and voice concerns. For family wealth based on financial assets, hosting regular investment updates can cultivate the financial literacy needed to evaluate strategies and managers. Families may also benefit from scenario planning that considers hypothetical events that could disrupt the business, and elicits feedback from across the group to help plan for enterprise risk.

10) Signal the Transition

Even with a chosen successor, no transition will occur if you are still regarded as “calling the shots.” In successful shifts in leadership, the founder typically communicates the timeline of transition in unmistakable terms, while assuring that they will be available to counsel the successor as needed. Bifurcating authority between distinctive roles (e.g., board chair and CEO) may help define boundaries between family members. When the successor has acquired the training and experience needed to run the business, you can begin deferring to them on key decisions.

Preparing for Your Next Adventure

Your path after stepping back from company leadership depends on your interests, whether based on travel, philanthropy or building new enterprises. Rather than disengage entirely, you may find roles on the company board or as an “ambassador” to clients, for example, that capitalize on your experience but avoid tripping over new management. Regardless of your intentions, preparation is crucial—both in communicating with family and creating planning structures—to realize an effective transition and strengthen the family enterprise for the future.