By: Dr. Tamara Patzer
October 12, 2026
In brief: Investors track prices. Family offices track risks that prices do not show. A New Orleans tax attorney outlines five that a business-owning family should watch each quarter: concentration, liquidity, liability, tax timing and succession, using current Federal Reserve data and IRS thresholds.
A brokerage statement tells an investor what an account is worth. It says nothing about whether the family is exposed to a single company, whether the cash is where it needs to be, whether a lawsuit could reach the assets or whether anyone could step in if the owner became ill. Those are the questions a family office asks. Todd M. Villarrubia, a New Orleans attorney who focuses on tax and estate planning, describes them in Entrepreneurial B.E.A.S.T. Mode™. A business-owning family can run the same checks on a single page, each quarter.
Why Look Beyond the Portfolio?
Because for an owner, the portfolio is rarely the largest asset. The Federal Reserve’s 2025 Survey of Consumer Finances, released October 9, 2026, puts median family net worth at $215,900 and the mean at $1.24 million1. The distance between the two figures reflects how much value sits in a minority of households, and often in businesses and property whose worth does not appear on any statement.
An owner whose company makes up most of the family’s wealth has a risk profile that the portfolio cannot reveal. The register below is a way to see it.
Risk One: How Concentrated Is the Family?
Concentration means a large share of wealth in one place. For an owner, that place is usually the company. Villarrubia’s view is blunt: “Concentration without protection is not strength; it’s exposure.” The company may be a fine investment and still be too big a part of the picture.
The practical question is what happens to the family if the business has a bad year, loses a key customer or faces a claim. A family office tracks that share and asks whether any of the value should be held elsewhere, in a different entity or a different form.
Risk Two: How Liquid Is the Wealth?
Liquidity is the ability to turn value into cash without a loss. The book is direct about what paper value means: “It isn’t until a liquidity event that their wealth is fully realized; until then, it’s largely paper value.” A family with a valuable company and little cash may be unable to pay a tax bill, buy out a partner or weather a slow period without selling something it would rather keep.
The register records how much of the family’s wealth can be reached in days, months or years, and compares that with what the family may need. Estate rules sharpen the question. The IRS lists $15,000,000 per person as the federal basic exclusion amount for 20264, and an estate close to that figure that holds mostly illiquid assets can face hard choices.
Risk Three: What Could Reach the Assets?
Liability. The book connects it to ownership: “Each property you own increases not only your cash flow but also your overall exposure to potential legal liabilities.” The same logic applies to a company, a vehicle fleet, a rental or a professional practice. The more a family owns, the more occasions exist for a claim.
A family office asks which assets sit in which entity, whether the insurance matches the exposure and whether any asset is held in a personal name that should be elsewhere. The author adds a warning that applies to timing: protection has to be in place before trouble arrives, because it offers no shield against claims that already exist.
Risk Four: How Will the Tax Calendar Land?
Tax rules turn on thresholds and dates. The IRS says long-term capital gains rates of 0, 15 or 20 percent apply to assets held more than a year2. It also says the 3.8 percent Net Investment Income Tax applies when modified adjusted gross income exceeds $200,000 for single filers and $250,000 for joint filers3.
A family office does not predict the law. It keeps a calendar of expected income, sales and transfers and asks, well ahead of the year-end, which thresholds might come into play. The point is to avoid surprises and to give the tax professional time to work.
Risk Five: Who Steps In?
Succession. The book is blunt: “Here’s the truth few want to admit: without a clear succession or exit plan, that wealth can disappear faster than it was built.” The register lists who would run the company, who would manage the finances and who would make decisions for the family if the owner could not.
This is the risk that families discuss least and regret most. It does not require a complicated plan. It requires a name for each role, a document that records it and a conversation with the people involved.
How Does a Family Use the Register?
Make a table with five rows. For each, write what the exposure is, how it is measured, who is responsible and when it was last checked. Fill it in with the advisers present. Update it quarterly.
The first pass often reveals that nobody is responsible for one or two of the rows. That is the value of the exercise. A risk that has a name and an owner is much easier to manage than one that is simply felt.
Can a Family Do This Without an Office?
Yes. The book recognizes that not every family needs a full-service office, and a one-page register with a quarterly meeting captures much of the benefit. As the family’s affairs grow, the register can become a staff function. The discipline comes first.
Which Risk Should Come First?
Whichever row has no owner. If nobody can say who tracks liquidity, start there. If succession is the blank, name a person today, even provisionally. A register is a living page, and the first pass is meant to be rough. Over a few quarters the entries sharpen, the dates fill in and the family sees which risks are shrinking and which are growing.
Common Questions
Is the register a financial plan? No. It is a list of risks, and it feeds into planning that a licensed attorney, a tax professional and a financial adviser carry out.
How often should it be updated? Quarterly is a sound habit, with extra updates after any large event.
Can I do it myself? You can start. Bring the result to your advisers, who can correct and extend it.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice, a recommendation, or an offer to buy or sell any securities. Consult a qualified financial advisor for advice specific to your situation.
Sources
• Federal Reserve Board, press release on the 2025 Survey of Consumer Finances
• Internal Revenue Service, Topic no. 409, Capital Gains and Losses
• Internal Revenue Service, Topic no. 559, Net Investment Income Tax
• Internal Revenue Service, What’s New: Estate and Gift Tax
About the author. Dr. Tamara Patzer is a publisher and former newspaper editor. She was on the staff of The Charlotte Sun when it was named a 2005 Pulitzer Prize finalist for its Hurricane Charley coverage.
About the source. Todd M. Villarrubia is an attorney with an LL.M. in Taxation and a Juris Doctorate. He is an Accredited Estate Planner, a Board Certified Expert in Estate Planning and Administration, and a Fiduciary Investment Advisor Representative. He is the author of Entrepreneurial B.E.A.S.T. Mode™. Wealth Planning Law Group, 101 W. Robert E. Lee Blvd., Ste 404, New Orleans, LA 70124. Phone: 504-982-8207; email: todd@lawealthplan.com; website: Wealth Planning Law Group.
Disclaimer: Attorney advertising. Sponsored feature written on behalf of Todd M. Villarrubia. This article is general information, not legal or tax advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Results vary.
