The cautionary tale of India’s Ambani family should be enough to scare any patriarch or matriarch into succession action. The sudden death of Reliance founder Dhirubhai Ambani, aged 69, in 2002 sparked an acrimonious battle between his two billionaire sons, Mukesh and Anil, leading to the brothers splitting up the family business in a deal mediated by their mother. Today relations are civil, but the businesses they inherited have had very different outcomes. Just as in family businesses, succession planning remains vital for family offices wanting to smoothly transfer their wealth and business empires to the next generation.