A poorly handled transition costs more than assets. A New Orleans tax attorney describes the harder-to-measure losses of a bad legacy, such as trust, identity and shared purpose, and how a coordinating structure with a plan for values can prevent them, with Illinois’s estimated $774,921 top 1% line and current national transfer data.
By Dr. Tamara Patzer
When families lose a business or an estate, the story told afterward is about dollars: how much was lost, to whom, because of what. The harder losses are rarely itemized. Siblings stop speaking. A story the family told about itself is replaced by a dispute. A grandchild learns the family name from a lawsuit. Chicago readers who run family companies may find a useful voice in Todd M. Villarrubia, a New Orleans attorney focused on tax and estate planning, who wrote Entrepreneurial B.E.A.S.T. Mode™ with those losses in mind. In his view, they are the strongest argument for treating legacy as a plan.
What does the book say a bad legacy does?
It describes the damage in terms that go past the balance sheet: “A bad legacy doesn’t just deplete wealth; it erodes the family’s identity, ultimately leaving them fighting over nothing but rubble.” The word rubble is deliberate. It suggests that what remains after a failed transition is not a smaller fortune but a ruin.
Whether or not a reader agrees with the framing, the pattern is familiar to anyone who has watched a family fight over an estate. The money is the occasion. The cause is usually older.
How large is the transfer ahead?
Large enough that more families will face the question. Cerulli Associates projects a $124 trillion generational transfer in the United States through 2048, including $105 trillion for heirs and $18 trillion for charity2. Illinois will see its share, and the state’s owners hold businesses, buildings and portfolios that will pass to the next generation.
The 2026 SmartAsset estimate for Illinois, a projection from IRS data that counts filers and not households, is $774,921 for the top 1%1. Families at many levels will need to decide how their wealth is passed on, and the costs of getting it wrong are not limited to the wealthiest.
What are the non-financial losses?
Four stand out.
- Trust: heirs who feel excluded or deceived stop believing what they are told.
- Identity: the family stops being the people who built something and becomes the people who fought about it.
- Continuity: the values that held the family together are not passed on.
- Time: years go into disputes that could have gone into work and relationships.
None of these appears on a tax return. All are visible to anyone who has lived through them.
Why do documents not prevent them?
Because documents settle ownership and leave out meaning. The book is blunt about it. In its words, “Succession planning ensures that wealth endures and, more importantly, doesn’t fracture your family after you’re gone.” The measure of success is not just that the assets pass, but that the family stays intact.
This is a modest ambition. It asks that the plan be judged by what happens to people. A plan that transfers every dollar correctly and leaves the family in pieces has failed.
What does a plan for values look like?
It starts with a conversation, not a form. The founder says what the family stands for, what the money is for and what the founder hopes the heirs will do. The heirs say what they hope and fear. The advisers listen. Someone writes it down.
The product might be a short family statement, a letter of wishes or a set of guiding principles tied to the governing documents. The document is less important than the discussion. The book treats the purpose behind a plan as its center: “The greatest risk to wealth isn’t taxes or markets, but forgetting why the plan exists.”
How does the family office help?
By making the conversation a recurring part of the family’s life. A coordinating structure, whether a full office or a lead adviser with a calendar, schedules the yearly meeting, keeps the family statement current and ensures that heirs hear the same message from the advisers. Without it, the plan relies on the founder’s memory and energy.
The federal estate picture adds a reminder that the legal side matters too. The IRS lists $15,000,000 per person as the 2026 basic exclusion amount3. Families whose estates approach that level have a financial reason to plan carefully, and every family has a human one.
What are the warning signs?
Silence about the plan. Heirs who learn of provisions from the lawyer after a death. Disagreement about the company that has never been aired. A founder who will not name a successor. Advisers who have never met the next generation. Any one of these is a reason to start.
What should an Illinois family do this year?
Hold a conversation about purpose, even if it is awkward. Write a page. Share it with the advisers. Ask the attorney whether the documents reflect it. Schedule the next conversation before leaving the room.
Do not wait for perfect words. A rough statement that is shared beats a polished one that stays in a drawer.
What does a good result sound like?
It sounds ordinary. Heirs who can describe, in a sentence, what the family stands for. Advisers who know one another. A founder who has said the hard things while there was still time. A good result does not mean the absence of disagreement. It means disagreement has a place to go and people who know how to listen.
What if the family is already divided?
Then bring in help. An attorney can recommend ways to structure agreements that account for differences. A neutral facilitator can help the conversation along. Division is not a reason to avoid planning. It is a reason to plan with care.
Common questions
Is this a legal matter or a family one? Both. The legal documents carry out the family’s choices.
What if the founder refuses to discuss it? Start with the advisers, who can raise the topic gently.
How long does the process take? Usually months, and then it becomes a yearly habit.
Sources
- SmartAsset, Income Needed to Be in the Top 1% in Every State (2026)
- NAPA-Net, Wealth Transfers Expected to Hit $124 Trillion Through 2048 (reporting Cerulli)
- 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: https://lawealthplan.com/?utm_source=newsanchored&utm_medium=chicago-journal&utm_campaign=family-office
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.
