Delegation of Authority: Who Signs, Alone or Jointly, Up to What Limit

Overview

A delegation of authority (DoA) in a family office is a written schedule of who can approve or sign what, alone or jointly, and up to which limit. It replaces "ask the principal" with a clear map of authority, so routine actions move without a bottleneck and significant ones get the right sign-off.

Most family offices run on an unwritten version of this, held in the principal's head. That works until the principal is unavailable, at which point nothing can be signed.

What is a delegation of authority in a family office?

A delegation of authority is the document that defines signing and approval rights across the office. For each type of action, it states who can authorise it, whether they can act alone or need a second signature, and the value threshold at which the rules change. It is the office's answer to "who can actually approve this?"

Without it, authority is ambiguous, and ambiguity resolves in one of two bad ways: either everything routes to the principal, creating a bottleneck, or people act without clear authority, creating risk. A DoA removes both by settling the question in advance.

A delegation of authority replaces "ask the principal" with a rule anyone can read.

What does a delegation of authority actually specify?

A DoA specifies, for each category of action, the authority required to take it. The structure is consistent even when the detail varies by family:

The thresholds are the family's to set. The discipline is that every action type has a defined answer, and no action falls into "nobody is sure."

Why does a family office need one?

A family office needs a DoA because it is what lets the office function when the principal is not in the room, without loosening control. It keeps routine work flowing at the coordinator level while ensuring significant decisions still get the sign-off they warrant. It is control and speed at the same time, which is otherwise a trade-off.

It is also a continuity instrument. An office whose authority lives only in one person's head cannot operate if that person is unavailable — the single-point-of-failure problem applied to signing. A DoA distributes authority deliberately, so the office keeps moving.

How do you set the limits?

Set the limits by matching the level of authority to the consequence of the action. Low-consequence, high-frequency actions get delegated with generous thresholds so they do not clog. High-consequence actions get joint sign-off or escalation regardless of size. The aim is that the friction of a decision is proportional to its stakes.

Where an action requires a judgment about how it is decided rather than who signs, that belongs in the decision matrix. The DoA governs authority to act; the matrix governs how the decision is reached. They work together.

How does a DoA connect to the family charter?

The DoA is where the charter's principles about authority become operational. The family charter says, in principle, how the family wants authority held; the DoA turns that into a schedule the office runs on. The charter is the intent; the DoA is the mechanism.

Frequently asked questions