Centimillionaires protect wealth by coordinating investment decisions with legal, tax, estate and risk planning. Trusts, business entities and family office support can help organize assets, prepare for succession and reduce exposure to disputes or probate. The right approach depends on the family's circumstances and should be transparent and lawful.
Plan around the risks
There is no single structure that suits every family. A founder may need to think about business and personal liability, while a family planning for succession may focus on who can manage assets and how heirs receive them. Asset protection can involve trusts, foundations, bank accounts, limited partnerships and companies, but choosing a structure without understanding its purpose can create new tax, legal or administrative problems.
One event speaker described asset protection as making sure a family can honestly disclose what it owns and how it was transferred. The speaker explicitly distinguished that from hiding assets or evading taxes. That distinction matters: structures should support lawful planning and withstand scrutiny, rather than conceal ownership.
Coordinate trusts, estate plans and family governance
Trusts may help manage how assets are held and transferred, and estate planning can help families avoid probate delays and expenses. One event excerpt discusses pairing a trust with documents such as a power of attorney, living will, pour-over will and health care surrogate. It also describes an AB trust arrangement, though the excerpt is incomplete, so families should get advice on how any proposed structure works in their own situation.
A family office can coordinate investment oversight, legal and tax advisers, and succession planning. The point is to make decisions together: an estate plan that does not reflect how assets are owned, or a trust that does not fit the family's tax situation, may fail to achieve the intended result. Families should review plans as their assets, businesses and circumstances change.
Match the plan to the family
The scale of the population is one reason planning needs to be specific. Henley & Partners counted 29,350 people worldwide with at least US$100 million in liquid investable assets in 2024 (Henley & Partners, 2024). That measure includes liquid investable wealth, rather than total net worth (Henley & Partners, 2024). It does not mean every person in that group faces the same risks or needs the same structures.
A practical starting point is to list the family's goals and exposures: business ownership, potential claims, succession, privacy, liquidity and tax obligations. Then work with qualified legal, tax and investment professionals to decide which arrangements fit, document them properly and review them over time.
From Family Office Club events
asset protection is you can go into a court put your hand on the Bible Square to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth talk about your assets
Sources
- Henley & Partners, Centi-Millionaire Report 2024. henleyglobal.com
- Henley & Partners, Centi-Millionaire Report 2024 (wealth definition). henleyglobal.com
- Family Office Club event transcript
Educational only. Nothing on this site is investment, tax, legal, accounting or other professional advice, or a recommendation on any security, manager, structure or allocation. Speak with qualified professionals before acting.