Private Client
Family Office & Private Staff Liability.
Domestic workers' comp, household EPLI, and trustee / private-staff liability coordinated with the family office.
Why standard personal lines is not enough
Standard homeowners and umbrella policies are designed for a household, not for an employer. Once the household pays W-2 wages to staff, files quarterly payroll, or relies on a family office to coordinate household operations, a separate set of employer-style coverages comes online — and the personal umbrella alone will not respond to employment claims.
Household EPLI
Employment Practices Liability written on a household form covers wage-and-hour, harassment, discrimination, wrongful termination, and retaliation claims by current, former, and prospective staff. It is the single most under-bought private-client coverage — typically inexpensive, and the only coverage that responds to the most common employment dispute pattern in private-staff households.
Coordinating the household and the family office
When the family office is a separate entity (LLC, S-corp, or trust) employing staff and managing residences, coverage often needs to be written in the entity's name with the principal household added as additional insured. We map every staff position, payroll entity, and residence to a specific policy so coverage sits with the correct legal employer.
Frequently asked questions
When does a household need workers' compensation?
As soon as the household pays W-2 wages to staff working above state-specific hourly thresholds. New York, California, Massachusetts, and Nevada all have low thresholds — most full-time domestic staff trigger statutory coverage from the first day of employment.
Is household EPLI really necessary?
Yes for any household with two or more staff, and increasingly for single-staff households once a wage-and-hour claim is filed. Household EPLI is one of the lowest-cost, highest-leverage coverages in the private-client stack.
Who is the employer for tax and insurance purposes?
It depends on payroll structure. The principal individually, the household management LLC, the family office, or a trust can all be the employer of record. We coordinate with the family office accountant and trustees so the named insured matches the entity actually paying payroll.
Does fiduciary liability cover trustees of family trusts?
Trustee liability — distinct from ERISA fiduciary liability — covers individual and corporate trustees against breach-of-duty claims by beneficiaries. Coverage limits are sized to trust corpus and beneficiary count, not to standard household exposure.