While family businesses often outperform their non-family counterparts, they must navigate complex issues like succession planning, ownership alignment, and strategic direction.

A family office governance charter provides a structured approach to define legacy, align interests, and ensure smooth generational transitions. 

  • Three business cases – farm consumption, decentralised ammonia, and hydrogen export.

  • Frameworks for land-efficient, inclusive, and sustainable growth.

  • Opportunities to align with India’s clean energy and net-zero goals
The challenge

Preserving legacy amid complexity

Every successful family business eventually faces the same critical question: How do we preserve wealth, values, and unity across generations? 

Family-owned businesses often outperform their non-family counterparts due to strong values and long-term vision. However, they also face unique governance challenges: 

  • Lack of governance: Increases the risk of fragmentation, especially as family size and wealth grow.

  • Unclear roles and decision-making: Leads to internal conflicts and disruption in business continuity.

  • Absence of open communication: Limits trust and transparency across generations.

Preserving wealth goes beyond investments. It requires a structured, inclusive framework of governance that builds trust, enables dialogue, and ensures smooth transitions. 

Our approach

We begin with one-on-one conversations, questionnaire and family mapping to understand the current structure, individual expectations and key concerns. This helps identify areas of alignment, potential conflict and shared values. 

Using insights gathered, we facilitate collaborative workshops to define the family’s long-term vision, roles and guiding principles. Tools such as the start–stop–continue matrix are used to refine what to retain, change or introduce. 

We support the setup of family councils, advisory roles and regular meetings to create formal platforms for dialogue, transparency and collective decision-making

We outline clear pathways for next generation involvement through defined entry criteria, development plans and mentoring programmes aligned with family values and business goals. 

We develop a customised family office governance charter that captures agreed principles, structures and succession planning, along with an implementation roadmap and review mechanisms. 

Scope of the solution

Focus area Objective Outcome
Family values and vision
Define shared values and long-term aspirations
Vision statement and alignment across generations
Family constitution
Develop a comprehensive governance document
Draft constitution with key policies and safeguards
Implementation and transition
Create actionable guidelines for governance and succession planning
Implementation roadmap with periodic reviews

Why choose Grant Thornton Bharat?

We combine deep local understanding with global governance standards. Our approach is empathetic, confidential, and tailored.
1.

Specialists in Indian family dynamics

2.

Integrated expertise across law, tax, finance, and emotional dynamics

3.

Custom governance frameworks, not templates

4.

Experience in facilitating complex conversations and transitions

5.

Strong network of legal, wealth, and regulatory experts

6.

End-to-end support from drafting to implementation and mentoring

Pallavi Joshi Bakhru
Contact us

Pallavi Joshi Bakhru

Partner and Family Office Leader

Contact Pallavi Joshi Bakhru
Pallavi Joshi Bakhru
Contact Pallavi Joshi Bakhru
Pallavi Joshi Bakhru
Partner and Family Office Leader
Pallavi Joshi Bakhru
02266262600