10/08/2026
For some business owners, the company they built will create more wealth than their family could reasonably spend in one lifetime. At $50 million, $100 million, $250 million – or significantly more – the question often isn’t whether the next generation will have enough. The question becomes: How do we thoughtfully steward wealth that could still exist three, four or five generations from now?
That is where generation-skipping transfer – or GST – planning becomes particularly important. For families with significant taxable estates, closely held or rapidly appreciating businesses, concentrated assets, or wealth expected to compound substantially over time, the opportunity extends far beyond traditional estate planning. We’re thinking about children. Grandchildren. Great-grandchildren. And potentially generations the wealth creator will never meet. The planning can become extraordinarily sophisticated.
Which assets have the greatest potential to appreciate? How should GST exemption be allocated? What belongs inside a multigenerational trust? Where might life insurance create additional liquidity or leverage? How should investment strategy, trust design, estate planning and risk management work together? And how do we coordinate with the family’s attorneys and tax advisors so every piece supports the larger architecture?
But perhaps the most important question is: What is all of this wealth ultimately intended to do?
Because transferring significant wealth successfully is very different from simply transferring assets. How much should future generations receive? What values should accompany it? How do we create extraordinary opportunity without unintentionally removing purpose, ambition or responsibility?
At Mila Wealth Management, this is where some of our most interesting work happens. Extraordinary wealth requires multigenerational architecture. Because building the business is only the beginning of building the legacy.
