A family office is designed to protect and grow a family's wealth: investments, reporting, tax, estate planning and governance. Yet the requests that reach the office every week are often about something else entirely. A flight that needs rebooking. A residence that needs opening before the family arrives. A milestone birthday that needs planning abroad.
These requests matter enormously to the family, but they sit outside what most offices are built to do. Lifestyle management is how many offices close that gap without stretching their own team.
The gap inside the office
When lifestyle requests land on a family office, they usually fall to whoever is nearest: an executive assistant, an analyst, sometimes a principal. The work gets done, but at a cost. Skilled people are pulled away from their actual roles, knowledge sits with individuals rather than systems, and the office takes on responsibility for vendors it never formally vetted.
Hiring in-house is one answer, but a single lifestyle hire rarely brings the network, coverage or continuity a family expects across time zones and seasons.
What lifestyle management covers
A dedicated lifestyle partner takes on the parts of family life that sit outside investments and reporting:
- Travel and private aviation: itineraries, aircraft through licensed operators, ground transfers and arrivals.
- Residences: seasonal openings and closings, household staff coordination and day-to-day oversight.
- Dining, access and occasions: reservations, private events, milestones and gifts.
- Wellness: trusted practitioners, retreats and restorative time.
- Experiences: journeys and gatherings planned around the whole family.
How it fits alongside the office
The right partner strengthens the advisor's relationship rather than competing with it. In practice, that means a few clear principles:
- The advisor remains primary. The lifestyle partner never approaches the office's clients directly.
- Scope is agreed in advance. Both sides decide what the partner handles, and what stays inside the advisory relationship.
- Reporting is agreed, not assumed. The office receives only what it and the family agree it should.
- One point of contact. The family works with a dedicated curator who learns their preferences over time.
The office gains capacity and a better experience for its families, without carrying the liability or overhead of running lifestyle services itself.
What to look for in a lifestyle partner
Because a lifestyle partner will know a great deal about a family's homes, movements and preferences, diligence matters. Before making an introduction, it is reasonable to ask:
- Confidentiality: Is every family relationship protected by a non-disclosure agreement?
- People: Is every team member background-checked?
- Protection: Is the firm insured and bonded?
- Licensing: Does it hold the registrations its services require, such as a state Seller of Travel registration, and does it use FAA Part 135 operators for private aviation?
- Vendors: How are partners chosen and evaluated, and are they held to the same standards of privacy and security?
- Pricing: Are costs transparent and free of markups, and are any commissions disclosed in advance?
- Data: How is personal information stored, who can access it, and what happens if something goes wrong?
- Capacity: How many families does each curator serve?
Billing that works for the office
Lifestyle spending can blur together if it is not tracked carefully. Itemized invoices, organized by category, make it simple for the office and the family's tax advisor to see what was spent and why. It is worth confirming this before any engagement begins.
How Solara works with family offices
Solara was founded from inside a family office, and it is built to sit alongside one. Each family works with one dedicated curator who serves no more than four members. Every relationship is protected by an NDA, every member of our team is background-checked, and Solara is insured and bonded. Our partners are known to us through trusted private networks and are evaluated continually. Pricing is transparent and never marked up, and invoices are itemized by category.
You can read more about how Solara partners with family offices and trusted advisors, or write to Isabelle directly to begin a confidential conversation. Every introduction is read personally and answered within 24 hours.
