Raffles Consulting Services
A founder incapacity access test checks whether authorised people can reach records and investment data without using the founder’s credentials.
A founder incapacity access test asks whether the family office can retrieve the records and investment data needed for lawful decisions when the founder cannot assist. It must not rely on the founder’s password, phone, memory or informal approval.
The test should prove both access and authority. A person may be able to open a file yet lack power to instruct a bank, manager or company. Another person may hold authority but lack the information needed to act.
Define the incapacity event and scope
First, choose a realistic event in which the founder is unavailable and cannot provide credentials or consent. State the date, assumed duration and people who remain available.
List the structures in scope, including personal assets, companies, trusts, funds, partnerships, bank accounts and family-office service entities. Identify the family members and professionals who need information.
The MSF guidance on Lasting Powers of Attorney explains that an LPA lets a donor appoint donees to make personal welfare or property and affairs decisions if capacity is lost. The instrument’s actual powers and restrictions must be checked. An LPA should not be treated as universal authority over every entity.
Separate legal authority from technical access
Create one column for authority and another for access. Authority may come from an LPA, board appointment, trust instrument, partnership agreement, investment mandate or bank mandate. Access may depend on an account, portal, device, custodian or record keeper.
The Mental Capacity Act 2008 supplies the legal framework for capacity and donee authority. The company, trust and fund records remain governed by their own documents and applicable law.
Do not share the founder’s credentials as a continuity method. It can breach security rules, obscure who acted and fail when a device or biometric check is unavailable.
Inventory the decision records
List governing documents, registers, minutes, mandates, investment policies, manager agreements, account statements, valuation reports, tax records, insurance, loan documents and key contacts. Record the authoritative copy and retention owner.
Mark records that exist only in email, on a personal device or with one adviser. Move them into an approved repository where lawful and appropriate. Keep identity, health, trust and investment information under restricted access.
Check dates and version control. An old bank mandate or unsigned committee charter can create false confidence.
Test investment-data continuity
Ask the authorised team to produce a current consolidated view of cash, listed investments, private assets, liabilities, commitments and expected calls. State the valuation date and source for each figure.
Include custodian data, administrator reports, portfolio-company records and private-market notices. Confirm that at least one authorised person can obtain new data rather than only view a saved report.
Record assets that cannot be valued or accessed within the exercise. Uncertainty belongs in the test result and should not be filled with an unsupported estimate.
Check company and board records
The ACRA director-duties guide explains that directors must act honestly, use reasonable diligence, avoid improper use of position or information and disclose interests. A founder’s incapacity does not transfer the board’s powers to an attorney automatically.
Confirm current directors, quorum, signing authority and access to statutory and accounting records. Test how a board meeting would be called and how urgent conflicts would be handled.
Where the company lacks an effective decision-maker, coordinate with Singapore lawyers on the lawful remedy. Do not improvise an appointment through an informal family note.
Test trusts, funds and manager relationships
For each trust, identify trustee, protector, settlor powers, investment adviser and beneficiaries. Read the instrument before assigning a continuity role. Family expectations cannot override the legal powers.
For funds and managed accounts, identify the licensed manager, administrator, custodian and authorised contacts. Confirm how instructions, redemptions, capital calls and reports are handled.
Record which decisions remain with an independent manager or trustee. The access test should support those roles, not pressure them to follow unauthorised family instructions.
Use an access test table
| Information | Authority | Access test |
|---|---|---|
| Personal affairs | LPA terms | Donee retrieves approved records |
| Company records | Board and officer roles | Secretary supplies current file |
| Bank accounts | Mandate and bank process | Authorised signer verifies access |
| Trust records | Trust instrument | Trustee confirms information route |
| Investment data | Manager or account mandate | Current report produced |
| Private assets | Ownership and agreements | Records and contacts located |
Protect privacy during the exercise
Use a small authorised team. Give participants only the information needed for their task. Do not copy the whole family archive into an exercise folder.
Log who accessed each system or record. Use temporary test accounts where providers support them. Remove exercise access after testing.
Do not include actual passwords, recovery codes or private keys in the report. Record that secure access was tested and where the approved recovery method is held.
Resolve failures by cause
Classify each failure as missing authority, missing information, unavailable person, technical lockout, outdated record or unclear ownership. Give it an owner and due date.
A legal-authority gap needs legal correction. A portal lockout needs a provider-approved recovery route. A missing consolidated view needs a reporting owner. One action cannot solve every category.
Repeat the failed part with the founder absent. A successful demonstration while the founder approves a prompt does not prove continuity.
Keep the test current
Finally, repeat the exercise after a new entity, bank, manager, trustee, device or family decision-maker. Review it at least when a key mandate or LPA changes.
The founder-incapacity continuity drill covers the wider response. The bank-mandate test covers payments. The family-office governance operating model remains the pillar cornerstone.
A practical founder incapacity access test gives authorised people the evidence to act without weakening security or inventing powers. The Family Office and UHNW hub connects the wider governance library.