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Estate Operations Advisory

Your staff run the estate. I build the system they run it on.

Independent advisory for private families, family offices, and the advisors who serve them.

I don’t manage your estate or replace your team. I design and install the operating system behind it: the structure, protocols and tools your existing staff use every day, built around how your estate actually works.

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The Gap

The gap between the estate plan and the estate

Most private families have sophisticated structures protecting their wealth: tax strategy, estate planning, trusts and entities, and experienced advisors.

But the estate itself often runs informally. Roles expand over time. Authority is shared or unclear. Knowledge lives in people rather than systems. Access to residences and sensitive information relies on trust rather than structure.

This isn’t negligence. It’s simply a category that sits outside traditional advisory work, and it’s the work I do.

The System

What the system covers

Every estate is different, so every system is different. Each one is built around what that estate actually requires, whether that’s a single residence or a portfolio of properties, vehicles, aircraft, vessels and land. Families choose the areas that matter to them.

Properties and assets

Property profiles, maintenance and seasonal schedules, mechanical systems, warranties, vehicles, art and valuables inventories, and arrival and departure readiness.

Vendors

Vetting, onboarding, insurance verification, performance tracking and preferred vendor lists, so every relationship is documented, not just remembered.

Financial oversight

Budgets, expense tracking, petty cash and clear approval thresholds for who can spend what.

Staff structure

Role definitions, reporting lines, schedules, daily reporting, accountability, and hiring standards for each position.

Communication with the family

How staff report to the principals, how preferences are recorded, and how requests move through the estate.

Travel, events and guests

Preparation, advance work and readiness standards, so every arrival and event meets the same standard.

Emergency and security

Emergency contacts, preparedness plans, incident reporting and security checks.

Continuity

Onboarding guides and handoff processes, so when someone leaves, the knowledge stays with the estate.

Privacy

Privacy by design, not by agreement

An NDA sets expectations. It doesn’t control who has the gate code. I build privacy into daily operations:

  • Who holds keys, codes and gate access, and how that access is logged and revoked
  • Who can see family calendars, travel plans, devices and accounts
  • What staff, vendors and advisors each need to know, and nothing more
  • Same-day access shutdown when someone leaves

Built the way your estate works

The system can be delivered as a structured set of documents and working tools, or as a custom digital platform for the estate, with access set person by person so everyone sees only what they need. The format depends on the family, the team and how they prefer to work.

families

When families reach out

It works best before issues escalate, not after.

  • The estate has grown faster than its structure
  • A new residence, relocation or liquidity event adds complexity
  • Key staff are added or leave
  • You feel involved in everything, but the estate lacks structure
  • Family members feel stress about how things run, not about finances
  • Privacy or access concerns feel unresolved

For Advisors

Working alongside advisors and family offices

Advisory work is designed to protect, grow and steward wealth. How the estate operates day to day decides whether that work actually holds in real life.

When an estate lacks clear structure, the effects often land on the advisory team: execution slows, household issues spill into advisory conversations, and advisors are pulled into matters outside their mandate. These issues rarely surface through traditional Human Capital or HR channels until they’ve become employment disputes, privacy incidents, financial control problems or reputational concerns. By then, the cost and disruption are far higher.

Estate Operations Advisory works upstream, putting structure in place before issues escalate.

Complement

A complement, not a replacement

This work is designed to sit alongside the professionals who already serve the family, and to make their work easier to carry out.

Wealth managers and RIAs

Fewer household matters landing in advisory conversations, and a clear way to address operational strain they can see but can’t own.

Family offices

A defined operating structure across residences, with clear approval processes, documentation and reporting.

Estate and legal counsel

NDAs, employment terms and governance documents supported by day-to-day practice, not just paper.

Human Capital and HR teams

Clear roles, authority and oversight, so payroll and compliance work rests on a solid foundation.

I don’t provide legal, tax, investment, HR compliance or payroll services, and I don’t take over any advisor’s role. Boundaries and confidentiality are respected throughout, and advisors can stay as involved as the family prefers.

When advisors bring me in

Advisors and family offices often involve Estate Operations Advisory when they notice:

  • Estate complexity growing faster than its structure
  • Uncertainty about who decides what within the estate
  • Staff roles that have expanded informally over time
  • Privacy or access concerns that feel unresolved
  • Multiple residences creating operational strain
  • Family members expressing operational stress rather than financial concern
  • Themselves being pulled into estate issues outside their mandate
  • A transition such as a new property, a liquidity event, staff turnover or a change in family structure

If you’re seeing signs of operational strain with a client, I’m glad to be a resource, whether for a confidential conversation about a situation or a direct introduction to the family.

Process

How an engagement works

Each engagement is deliberately phased to protect discretion, pacing and clarity.

01

Formal engagement

Scope, confidentiality and expectations are set before any analysis begins.

02

Pre-discovery intake

Context is gathered so that discovery is focused.

03

Discovery

Facilitated conversations about how the estate operates in practice.

04

Synthesis and confirmation

What was learned is reviewed and confirmed before moving forward.

05

Advisory summary and decision point

You receive written findings and considerations. You may pause here or move forward.

06

System design and build (optional)

The estate’s operating system is built around the areas the family chooses, in the format that suits them.

07

Staff walkthrough and implementation (optional)

I walk your team through the system so it’s in daily use, not sitting on a shelf. Then it’s theirs to run, with follow-up support available as the estate grows.

Engagements are project-based, with flat fees that reflect the estate’s complexity, the number of residences and the scope of the system. All fees are shared before work begins.

What this work is not

Estate Operations Advisory complements your existing advisors. It does not replace them. It does not include legal, tax or investment advice, HR compliance or payroll, or day-to-day management of the estate or its staff.

The goal is not control. The goal is coherence.

About

About Lori Davis

Lori Davis is the founder of Third Coast Domestic and the author of The Household Management Operating System, a 283-page professional training program for private household managers. Her work focuses on bringing clear, durable structure to complex private estates.
Learn more about The Household Management Operating System →

Contact

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All inquiries are handled with complete discretion.

Lori Davis
lori@thirdcoastdomestic.com