What Is the STEWARD Estate Planning Framework?
The STEWARD framework is a proprietary Dew Wealth system that transforms estate planning from an overwhelming legal exercise into a methodical, values-driven approach to wealth transfer. STEWARD stands for Story, Trustee, Experienced Team, Who Inherits, Action, Readiness, and Distributions.
Jim Dew, CFP and Registered Investment Advisor, developed the STEWARD framework in "Billionaire Wealth Strategies" (Chapter 4) to address a sobering reality: research from the Williams Group indicates that 70% of wealthy families lose their wealth by the second generation, and 90% by the third. The Family Office Exchange (FOX) and similar family wealth research organizations have documented comparable findings.
These statistics suggest that financial assets alone do not sustain multi-generational wealth. Without a structured framework, entrepreneurs often focus narrowly on trust documents and tax minimization while neglecting the human elements that determine whether wealth actually endures.
STEWARD connects directly to the Wealth Wheel because estate planning cannot happen in isolation. The framework requires coordination between estate attorneys, tax advisors, insurance specialists, and wealth managers working as an integrated team through a Fractional Family Office®.
What Are the Seven Elements of STEWARD?
The seven elements address both the technical and human dimensions of estate planning. Each element maps to specific legal instruments, regulatory requirements, and professional disciplines.
What Is the Story Component?
The Story element requires documenting how the wealth was created. Recording the challenges overcome, principles followed, and purpose behind building the business ensures future generations understand the values behind the financial assets they inherit.
A wealth story is not a financial statement. Families that preserve wealth across generations almost always have a strong narrative foundation that transmits work ethic, financial responsibility, and purpose alongside the money.
Research on family governance, including work by James E. Hughes Jr. (author of "Family Wealth: Keeping It in the Family") and the Family Office Exchange (FOX), indicates that families who articulate and transmit shared values have measurably higher rates of wealth preservation. The Story element formalizes this process into a documented family legacy that accompanies the legal estate plan.
However, narrative alone does not substitute for proper legal documentation. The Story element supplements, rather than replaces, formal trust instruments, powers of attorney, and beneficiary designations.
How Should Entrepreneurs Choose a Trustee?
Trustee selection is one of the most consequential estate planning decisions an entrepreneur will make. Under the Uniform Trust Code (UTC), adopted by the majority of U.S. states, trustees owe fiduciary duties of loyalty (UTC Section 802), impartiality (UTC Section 803), and prudent administration (UTC Section 804) to beneficiaries.
Entrepreneurs must consider three options. Individual trustees (typically family members) offer personal knowledge of the family but may lack investment expertise, administrative capacity, or the objectivity needed to navigate beneficiary disputes. Corporate trustees (trust companies and bank trust departments regulated by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, or OCC, and state banking regulators) provide institutional competence, continuity, and regulatory oversight. Co-trustee arrangements combine both, though they introduce complexity around decision-making authority and potential conflicts.
Each choice carries trade-offs in terms of cost, expertise, family dynamics, and flexibility. The STEWARD framework recommends evaluating trustees against specific criteria rather than defaulting to the closest family member. Trustee compensation is governed by state law and trust terms under Uniform Trust Code Section 708, and unreasonable fees can be challenged by beneficiaries under UTC Section 1004.
Why Does Estate Planning Require an Experienced Team?
The Experienced Team element ensures that estate attorneys, tax advisors, insurance specialists, and wealth managers work as an integrated unit rather than in silos. Estate planning failures most commonly result from uncoordinated professional advice, not from any single advisor's incompetence.
Under IRC Section 2001, the federal estate tax applies to estates exceeding $13.99 million per individual (2025 threshold, as indexed for inflation by the Internal Revenue Service). The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (Public Law 115-97) doubled this exemption, but the increase is scheduled to sunset after December 31, 2025, potentially reverting to approximately $7 million (adjusted for inflation per IRC Section 2010(c)).
Planning around this sunset requires coordination between tax advisors and estate attorneys. A gift completed before the sunset that uses exemption above the reverted level is protected under IRS Treasury Regulation 20.2010-1(c), meaning the IRS will not claw back the excess exemption. This technical detail illustrates why the Experienced Team element is essential.
The Experienced Team element reflects the broader Wealth Wheel principle. Uncoordinated advice in estate planning creates gaps that can result in unnecessary estate taxes, probate expenses, and implementation failures. However, assembling a coordinated team requires investment of time and fees, and the benefits depend on estate complexity and family circumstances.
How Does STEWARD Define Who Inherits?
The Who Inherits element addresses not just the identity of beneficiaries but the conditions, timing, and structure of inheritance. Clear beneficiary designation prevents family conflict and ensures assets reach intended recipients through the appropriate legal vehicles.
Under IRC Section 2056, the unlimited marital deduction allows assets to pass between spouses without triggering federal estate tax. For non-spouse beneficiaries, assets may pass through revocable trusts, irrevocable trusts, or direct transfers, each with different tax and asset protection implications.
The SECURE Act of 2019 (Public Law 116-94) changed inherited Individual Retirement Account (IRA) rules, requiring most non-spouse beneficiaries to withdraw all funds within 10 years under IRC Section 401(a)(9). The IRS finalized regulations in 2024 confirming that annual required minimum distributions apply during the 10-year period if the original owner had already begun distributions. These rules significantly affect how retirement assets are structured within an estate plan.
Beneficiary designations on retirement accounts, life insurance policies, and transfer-on-death (TOD) accounts override the provisions of a will or trust. Failing to update these designations after divorce, remarriage, or the birth of children is a common and costly estate planning error. The U.S. Supreme Court confirmed this principle in Kennedy v. Plan Administrator for DuPont Savings & Investment Plan (2009).
How Does the Action Element Connect Wealth to Values?
The Action element defines what values and causes the estate plan should incentivize. This component connects wealth transfer to purpose through charitable giving structures, family governance requirements, or incentive provisions in trust documents.
Charitable structures include Charitable Remainder Trusts (CRTs) under IRC Section 664, which provide income to beneficiaries with the remainder going to a qualified charity. Charitable Lead Trusts (CLTs) under IRC Section 2055 provide income to charity with the remainder passing to heirs at a reduced gift or estate tax value. Private family foundations under IRC Section 501(c)(3) allow families to maintain ongoing charitable involvement across generations, subject to annual distribution requirements of at least 5% of net investment assets under IRC Section 4942.
Incentive trust provisions can tie distributions to educational milestones, employment, charitable activity, or other behaviors that reflect the family's values. However, incentive provisions must be carefully drafted to avoid unintended consequences. Overly restrictive provisions may be challenged under state trust law, and conditions that are deemed contrary to public policy may be voided by courts.
Entrepreneurs who skip the Action element often create estate plans that transfer assets efficiently but fail to transfer the mindset and work ethic that created the wealth.
What Does Readiness Mean in Estate Planning?
Readiness means that beneficiaries and advisors know the estate plan exists, understand its provisions, and can execute it when needed. A technically perfect estate plan fails if no one can find the documents, access the accounts, or interpret the intentions.
The Readiness element includes incapacity planning. Under the Uniform Power of Attorney Act (UPOAA), adopted by a growing number of states, durable financial powers of attorney remain effective if the principal becomes incapacitated. Healthcare directives and HIPAA authorization forms (required under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, 45 CFR Part 164) ensure that family members can access medical information and make healthcare decisions.
A letter of instruction, while not legally binding, provides practical guidance to trustees, executors, and family members about the location of documents, digital assets, account credentials, and personal wishes. Regular updates to this letter are as important as updates to the legal documents themselves.
Family meetings to discuss estate planning are a best practice recommended by the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC). These meetings reduce surprises, manage expectations, and give beneficiaries time to prepare for the responsibilities they will inherit. However, the appropriate level of disclosure varies by family, and professional facilitators may be advisable for complex family dynamics.
How Should Distributions Be Structured?
Distribution planning addresses when, how much, and under what conditions beneficiaries receive assets. Structured distributions help protect against premature spending and support long-term wealth preservation, though no structure can account for all future circumstances.
Under the Uniform Trust Code, trustee discretion in distributions is governed by the trust instrument and applicable state law. Common distribution structures include:
- Age-based milestones: Beneficiaries receive portions of the trust at specified ages (such as 25, 30, and 35), allowing maturity to develop before full access. The specific ages and percentages should reflect both the beneficiary's demonstrated responsibility and the family's values.
- Incentive-based distributions: Tied to the Action element, these provisions align payouts with the family's values around education, entrepreneurship, or community service. Incentive provisions carry risk of unintended consequences and should be drafted with flexibility.
- Ascertainable standards: Distributions for health, education, maintenance, and support (HEMS) receive favorable tax treatment under IRC Section 2041 because they limit the beneficiary's power of appointment, preventing the trust assets from being included in the beneficiary's taxable estate. HEMS standards also provide trustees with a clear, legally recognized framework for decision-making.
The distribution structure should reflect both the beneficiary's maturity and the family's values around wealth stewardship. Overly restrictive distributions may breed resentment and legal challenges, while unrestricted access may undermine the purpose of the trust.
How Does STEWARD Work in Practice?
An entrepreneur with a $15 million estate might implement STEWARD across all seven elements. The Story element involves documenting the family business narrative and the values that guided its growth. The Trustee selection might appoint a corporate trustee (such as a national bank trust department regulated by the OCC) with a family advisory committee to balance institutional competence with personal knowledge.
The Experienced Team is assembled through the Fractional Family Office® to coordinate estate attorneys, tax advisors (including CPAs and enrolled agents), and insurance specialists. The Who Inherits element designates children and a charitable foundation as beneficiaries, with careful attention to beneficiary designations on all retirement accounts under the SECURE Act and insurance policies.
The Action element creates incentive trust provisions for education and entrepreneurship, along with a Charitable Remainder Trust under IRC Section 664 for the family's philanthropic goals. Readiness is maintained through an annual family wealth meeting, documented instructions, and a current letter of instruction. The Distributions element structures payouts at ages 25, 30, and 35 with milestone-based accelerators and HEMS standards under IRC Section 2041.
With a $13.99 million per individual exemption (2025) under IRC Section 2010, this $15 million estate faces limited federal estate tax exposure at current levels. However, if the exemption reverts to approximately $7 million after the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act sunset, the estate could face significant tax liability on the excess, making proactive planning essential.
Estate planning outcomes depend on legislative changes, state law variations, and individual family circumstances. No estate plan can account for all future contingencies, and all strategies require periodic review as laws and personal situations evolve.
When Should Entrepreneurs Implement STEWARD?
STEWARD is designed for entrepreneurs with seven-figure and above estates who want to preserve both wealth and values across generations. The framework should be revisited annually or after major life events: marriage, divorce, new children, business sale, or relocation to a different state (which may change applicable trust law, estate tax exposure, and community property rules).
Implementation requires a Linchpin Partner to coordinate between estate attorneys, tax advisors, and the broader wealth team. Given the potential sunset of the current estate tax exemption under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (Public Law 115-97), entrepreneurs should evaluate their estate plans with qualified attorneys before December 31, 2025, to determine whether accelerated gifting strategies (protected under Treasury Regulation 20.2010-1(c)) or trust funding strategies are appropriate.
Estate planning strategies involve complex legal and tax considerations that vary by state and individual circumstance. All strategies should be reviewed by qualified estate attorneys and tax advisors familiar with both federal and applicable state laws. Past legislative outcomes do not predict future changes, and strategies designed around the current exemption sunset may need adjustment if Congress acts to extend or modify the provision.