The Ballot Is Stronger than the Bullet- Is Your Family Office Prepared?

By Lisa Morris

Abraham Lincoln said, "The ballot is stronger than the bullet.” If so, family offices need to think through the endgame: are they dodging the bullet, taking a hit, or risking a kill shot? Elections have consequences, so on Election Day it felt fitting to write about the issues that will affect family offices depending on the outcomes.

When family offices look at an upcoming U.S. election, it is rarely just about who ends up in the White House, Congress, the Senate, or local government positions. It is really about the ripple effects across regulatory agencies and the tax codes that quietly reshape how generational wealth survives.

Estate and gift taxes almost always take center stage. For years, wealthy families have enjoyed historic lifetime exemption limits, but these figures are fundamentally political footballs. When administrations shift, or major legislative packages reach their sunset dates, families risk seeing those transfer limits slashed dramatically. That uncertainty drives advisers into high gear, pushing to lock in lifetime gifts, set up grantor-retained trusts, and restructure assets before the legislative door potentially swings shut. Along with that comes the perpetual debate over capital gains rates and carried interest, which hits particularly hard for families running their own private deal syndicates.

At the same time, the regulatory landscape is shifting beneath their feet. The old stereotype of the family office as a completely private, under-the-radar vault has been unraveling. Initiatives like the Corporate Transparency Act and proposed anti-money-laundering requirements mean offices must spend real time and money proving who owns what across dozens of holding entities and trusts. Depending on the political mood in Washington, there is also recurring debate over whether massive, highly leveraged offices should continue enjoying their broad exemptions from SEC oversight.

Beyond paperwork and filings, the IRS has fundamentally upgraded how it approaches ultra-wealthy families. Instead of auditing a single return, tax authorities now look at the entire ecosystem, connecting the dots between family trusts, core operating companies, and luxury assets like private aircraft. Family offices find themselves constantly defending everyday deductions, needing to demonstrate that their management teams are running an active, legitimate business rather than just sitting on passive family assets.

Finally, policy shifts directly dictate where capital actually flows. Because so many families now bypass external fund managers to buy businesses directly, antitrust enforcement matters immensely. A stricter regime can stall acquisitions or depress exit multiples, while a lighter touch speeds up deals. Add trade policies, tariffs, and competing views on energy subsidies, and family offices must constantly rethink whether to pour money into green technology, domestic reshoring, or international markets.

Ultimately, the most resilient family offices do not spend their energy betting on which candidate will win. That is just betting on who does the shooting, rather than focusing on the effect of the bullet.  Instead, they build flexible legal and corporate structures, keep healthy cash reserves, diversify across cash, gold, digital assets, and real estate in multiple locations, and design wealth-transfer plans that can hold up no matter who is in power at any given time.

Disclosure: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute tax or legal advice. Anyone considering investments should work with an experienced tax professional before relying on any of the provisions described above.

Author Bio: Lisa Morris is Managing Director of AKS Family Partners LP, a single family office based in NYC.  She has two decades of experience spanning theater, travel, entrepreneurship, philanthropy, and investments.

She founded the travel company Road Concierge, which was later acquired by Internova Travel Group. A former Broadway actress, she is also an Entrepreneur-in-Residence with NYSERDA, an EarthShot Prize nominator, and a member of several investment and impact communities, including NEXUS Impact Society, 3i, IPI/Campden, Top Tier Impact, Aura Club, Adoreum, and Gaingels.

She has held senior consulting roles with nonprofits including Epic Foundation, Mary Tyler Moore Foundation, and AKS Family Foundation, and as Director of Philanthropic Services for FORCE Family Office. She serves on several advisory boards, consults for companies from startups to public firms, and is a frequent public speaker and pitch coach. Her upcoming book, "Can You Rollerskate?", launches November 2nd, 2026 and is available for pre-order on Amazon, Waterstones, and Barnes & Noble.