What the Family Wealth Plan covers
The Family Wealth Plan is a core planning framework that brings your estate, trust and investment decisions into one working plan. Instead of separate conversations that do not always line up, the plan joins the moving parts: who owns what, who benefits, who should manage it, and how assets are passed on with as little delay as possible. It is practical for households with property, unit trusts, share portfolios, business interests or family loans that need proper records.
We use it to map the full picture, then align the documents and transfer steps around your family’s real circumstances. That includes succession conversations, beneficiary checks, liquidity planning and the points where a trust may help or where a will needs updating. The aim is simple, make the plan easy to follow now and easier to carry out later, without pressure to buy products you dont need.
Plan sizes and options for different households
Family Wealth Plans are usually built in one of three sizes, depending on the number of assets, the family structure and how much coordination is needed. A smaller plan suits a couple or a single business owner with a straightforward estate. A mid-size plan works well for blended families, rental properties or a family business in the mix. A larger plan is better for multi-generational households, trust structures and larger investment books that need regular review.
- Starter plan: wills review, beneficiary review and basic asset mapping
- Family plan: trusts, retirement income, liquidity analysis and transfer steps
- Legacy plan: full succession support, family meetings, trustee briefings and ongoing plan reviews
If you live in Stellenbosch, Cape Town, Paarl, Johannesburg or Durban, we can structure the work around in-person sessions or video consultations nationwide. Many families prefer a first meeting online, then one or two face-to-face sessions when the documents and numbers are ready. That keeps the process moving, even during load-shedding or a busy business season.
Where it suits best
This plan suits families who want clarity before a crisis forces decisions. It is especially useful where one person handles most of the finances, where adult children need to understand the plan, or where a business owner wants the handover to happen in an orderly way. It also works well when there are older parents, a second marriage, stepchildren or assets spread across more than one province.
We often see the need for this in Cape Town and the Winelands, where property values can create estate duty exposure and liquidity pressure, and in Johannesburg or Durban where families may hold both business and investment assets. The plan helps identify where cash may be needed for costs, how to protect dependants, and where trust structures or updated wills should be in place before anything is signed off. It is calm work, but it needs proper attention.
- Households with more than one property
- Business owners planning a handover
- Families wanting beneficiary and will alignment
- Trusts that need clearer governance
How the setup process works
We start with a discovery meeting to understand the family structure, current assets and the points where uncertainty already exists. From there we gather the facts needed for the plan: ownership records, beneficiary nominations, trust deeds where relevant, existing will wording and the practical details around debt, liquidity and dependants. The work is then turned into a plan that can actually be used, not just filed away.
For many clients, the setup includes one family meeting, one adviser session and a follow-up review of the draft plan. If needed, we also run trustee briefings and succession facilitation so the people involved understand their role. In some cases, especially where family members are in different cities, we use video consultations and shared follow-up notes to keep everyone on the same page without dragging the process out.
Care, servicing and review timing
A Family Wealth Plan is not something to complete once and forget. Life changes, tax rules shift, children grow up, businesses expand and property holdings move. We recommend a check-in once a year, and also after major events such as a marriage, divorce, birth, sale of a business, move offshore or death in the family. That review keeps the wills, trust instructions and investment plan in sync.
Ongoing care may include beneficiary reviews, plan reviews, liquidity analysis and updated family meetings. If the plan includes a trust, we look at trustee communication and the practical admin that goes with it. Clear servicing matters because the best plan on paper can still fail if nobody updates the details. A small typo in a beneficiary name or a missing instruction can create delays later, so the admin needs to be tidy.
What to check before you order
Before you go ahead, make sure the key facts are available and current. The biggest issues usually come from old documents, missing account details or assumptions that nobody has tested with the family. It helps to know who the executors are, whether the wills still reflect the intended beneficiaries, and whether there is enough cash available to settle costs without forcing a quick sale of an asset.
- Latest will and any codicils
- Trust deed and trustee details, if applicable
- List of assets, debts and insurance cover
- Beneficiary nominations on investments and policies
- Business agreements, shareholder terms or succession notes
If you are in Somerset West, Claremont or elsewhere nationwide, we can work from your current records and point out what still needs to be gathered. It is better to ask the awkward questions early than leave them for the family to sort out later, often under pressure.
Why families choose Pass It On Create
Clients come to us for clear guidance, not product pressure. Our work is built around generational wealth, estate planning and legacy design, with practical support from advisers who understand the family side as well as the numbers. Under Lukhanyo van der Merwe’s leadership, the team brings together estate planning, trust structuring, retirement income planning and succession facilitation in one place.
That matters when the goal is not only to build wealth, but to hand it on properly. We help you line up the documents, the decisions and the people involved so the next generation is not left guessing. For many families, that is the real value of the Family Wealth Plan, a clear way to protect what has been built and pass it on with purpose.
Key facts
| Plan type | Family wealth coordination framework |
|---|---|
| Core inputs | Wills, trusts, investments, liabilities and beneficiary details |
| Best for | Families, entrepreneurs and multi-generational households |
| Review cycle | Annual review recommended, plus life-event updates |
| Access options | Stellenbosch, Cape Town, Paarl, Johannesburg, Durban, Somerset West, Claremont and online nationwide |
| Support format | In-person meetings, video consultations, family meetings and trustee briefings |
