Questions to ask a family office — due diligence guide

Before your first meeting

The goal of the first conversation is not to evaluate the pitch — it is to understand the operating reality. Ask each firm for written answers to the questions below, then compare across proposals. Verbal answers given in a sales context are harder to hold a firm to later. Written responses reveal exactly what is promised and what is excluded.

Investor.gov recommends verifying registration and disciplinary history before any substantive conversation. A firm's Form ADV is public and describes the exact services offered, the fee structure, and any conflicts of interest the firm has disclosed to regulators.¹

People and continuity

The people doing the work matter as much as the brand on the proposal. Continuity risk — what happens when the lead advisor leaves — is one of the most underweighted factors in family office selection.

Who specifically would work on our account? Ask for names, credentials, and tenure at this firm. Avoid answers that describe the organization rather than the team you would actually work with.
What happens if our lead advisor leaves? Does the firm have a succession plan? Has it been activated before? Is client continuity contractually protected?
How many client relationships does our advisor manage? A relationship manager working with 150 households cannot provide the attention of one working with 30. Ask for the actual number.
Who makes investment decisions? Is there an investment committee? Is the same person managing your money who is giving you planning advice? Understand the chain of authority.
What is the firm's ownership structure and is it likely to change? Consolidation in the wealth management industry is significant. Ask directly whether the firm has been acquired or is considering a sale. An acquisition often changes service levels, team composition, and fee structures.²

Service scope

The most common source of disappointment in family office relationships is an assumption about what was included that did not match the written engagement. Confirm every item in writing before signing. See the full service breakdown by model for a complete checklist.

What is included in the base engagement fee? Ask for a written list. Then ask which services are billed separately as project fees or hourly work.
Do you prepare tax returns, or do you coordinate with an outside accountant? These are different services. Tax-aware investing is not the same as filing a return. If returns are included, confirm which types: personal 1040, partnership K-1s, trust returns, state returns.
How do you coordinate with our other professionals? If you have an existing estate attorney or CPA, ask whether the firm will manage those relationships directly or whether that coordination is your responsibility.
What investment types do you manage? Ask specifically about real estate, private equity, and closely held business interests. Many advisors who manage public securities do not have the operational capacity to oversee alternative assets.
Do you provide consolidated reporting across accounts you do not manage? If you hold accounts at multiple custodians or have outside assets, ask whether reporting consolidates everything or only the accounts the firm directly manages.

Fees and total cost

The advisory fee is rarely the total cost. Investment expenses, third-party service fees, and custodial charges all add to the annual total. Use the fee comparison tool to model your own assumptions before any conversation. Our tool uses hypothetical inputs — it does not reproduce any firm's actual pricing.

What is the total fee illustration for our situation? Ask for a dollar amount, not a percentage range, based on the assets the firm would actually advise. Include the advisory fee, the investment expenses inside the portfolios, and any separately billed services.
Are there minimums, platform fees, or custodial charges? Some advisory arrangements require assets to be held at a specific custodian. Ask whether custodial charges are included in the advisory fee or billed separately.
How does your fee change as our assets grow or decline? A tiered fee schedule may look favorable at one asset level and less so at another. Ask for the full schedule, not just the rate that applies today.
Is your fee the same for assets held in trust, in a business, or in a retirement account? Some arrangements apply different rates to different account types. Confirm whether the stated rate applies uniformly.³

Conflicts of interest

Conflicts do not disqualify a firm, but undisclosed ones should. Every firm's Form ADV Part 2 describes material conflicts. Read it. Then ask about the conflicts directly — a firm that cannot explain its conflicts plainly is one to be cautious about.

Are you a fiduciary, and for which services? Registered investment advisers have a fiduciary duty for investment advice. Broker-dealers do not, for most transactions. Some firms operate in both capacities. Ask which standard applies and when.
Do you receive compensation from third parties for investment recommendations? Revenue sharing from fund companies, custodians, or insurance carriers is a conflict. A fee-only firm does not receive these payments; a fee-based firm may. Ask for the answer in writing.⁴
Do you have proprietary investment products, and would you use them in our account? If a firm has its own funds or managed accounts, ask directly whether they recommend them to clients and what the firm receives when they do.
How are referrals handled? If the firm refers you to an accountant, attorney, or insurance broker, ask whether the firm has any financial relationship with those referral partners.

Operations and day-to-day experience

Ask each firm to describe a realistic week — not a hypothetical best case — to understand how the relationship actually works in practice.

How do I reach you when I have a question? Ask specifically whether questions go to your relationship manager or to a service team. Find out the expected response time. Ask what happens when your primary contact is unavailable.
What does quarterly communication look like? Ask for a sample report. Understand what is included and whether it requires a meeting to interpret or can stand on its own.
How do you handle a request outside normal hours? Market dislocations, estate events, and liquidity decisions do not follow business hours. Ask about the firm's protocol for urgent requests.
What technology does the firm use for account access and reporting? Ask whether you can view your accounts independently, download reports, or share access with an outside accountant or attorney.
How long is the typical client tenure? High client turnover is a meaningful signal about service quality. Ask for the average or median tenure of existing clients. A firm that is proud of its retention will answer directly.

Questions for a liquidity event or business transition

If you are approaching a business sale, equity payout, or inheritance, ask each firm a set of event-specific questions in addition to the general list above.

Have you worked with clients through a business sale of this scale? The tax, estate, and cash management decisions around a liquidity event are different from ongoing investment management. Ask for relevant experience, not a general answer about complex clients.
What does your planning process look like in the year before and the year after a sale? A coordinated response — tax strategy, estate changes, investment deployment — requires an advisor who has managed the sequencing before.
Who leads the engagement at closing? Understand whether your relationship manager is the person doing the substantive planning work or a front-of-house contact who delegates to a planning team.

How to use this list

Send these questions to each firm before your first formal meeting and ask for written responses. Compare the responses side by side. A firm that answers precisely — with names, dollar amounts, and specific service commitments — is giving you something you can hold them to. A firm that responds with marketing language is telling you something about how the relationship will go.

Once you have written responses, use the fee comparison tool to put comparable numbers on each proposal. Then confirm the service scope against the service checklist before making a final decision.

Sources & further reading

Source pages reviewed October 2026. These questions are general due diligence guidance and do not constitute legal, financial, or investment advice.

Questions to aska family office