Examples of what each stage produces: a Blueprint, an annual Stewardship Report and a Live-Fire exercise report, with three client scenarios and a plain statement of who is responsible for what.
Every example on this page is illustrative. The scenarios are composites, and names, jurisdictions, figures and details have been changed or invented so that no client can be identified. They show the shape and depth of the work, not advice for any particular situation, and they are not a promise of any outcome.
Illustrative composites. Fees shown are Autark's professional fees only; third-party costs are additional and passed through at cost.
01
A founder sold a company and relocated with their spouse to the UAE. Most of the proceeds sit with one private bank in Switzerland. There is a holiday property in Spain, a small portfolio with a US broker, and a will written under the law of the country they left, before the move.
Architect, USD 5,500. Build quoted at USD 34,000 across four workstreams. Stewardship Standard, USD 6,000 a year.
02
A long-term Bitcoin holder keeps most of their net worth on a single hardware wallet, with the seed phrase stamped on steel in two locations. Their partner is not technical. Their children are minors. Nobody else knows the full arrangement.
Bitcoin Succession Blueprint, USD 5,500. Build quoted at USD 24,000. Stewardship Premium, with two Live-Fire exercises a year, quoted at USD 19,500 a year.
03
Parents in Portugal, adult children in the United Kingdom and Canada. A family trading company, three rental properties, and investment accounts in the parents' joint names. One parent signs everything.
Architect, USD 12,500, reflecting the wider family and an operating company. Build quoted at USD 46,000. Stewardship Standard with one escalation test, quoted individually.
01 Architect
Two short extracts from a Blueprint for scenario 01. A full Blueprint runs to 25 to 40 pages across the seven sections set out on the Architect page.
| Dimension | Grade | Finding |
|---|---|---|
| Jurisdictional exposure | Exposed | Over 70 per cent of liquid assets subject to one jurisdiction's enforcement and reporting regime. |
| Custody structure | Exposed | One institution holds operating cash and investments. No second relationship able to receive funds within 30 days. |
| Compartmentalisation | Watch | All assets held personally. Low current liability exposure, but none separated from future business risk. |
| Liquidity under stress | Watch | Adequate liquidity overall, concentrated in one channel. |
| Concentration and continuity | Exposed | Will drafted under the law of the former residence; no recognised authority for the spouse to act on incapacity. |
| Holding | Today | After the redesign |
|---|---|---|
| Swiss bank account | Frozen pending a court-appointed representative. Estimated four to nine months. | Foundation council acts under its by-laws. Expected days, not months. |
| US brokerage | Power of attorney not accepted in its current form. | Held through the holding company; directors act. |
| Spanish property | No one able to sell or let. | Separate arrangement with a local power of attorney in recognised form. |
Timeframes are estimates based on stated assumptions about institutional practice, set out in an appendix. They are not guarantees.
03 Stewardship · Standard
The report a Standard client receives each year, shortened. It records what was checked, what changed and what should happen next.
| Obligation | Due | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Holding company licence renewal | March | Completed |
| Foundation annual return | June | Completed |
| Bank KYC refresh, second institution | September | Completed |
| Will review following change of residence of a beneficiary | Open | Recommended |
The structure remains appropriate for the principal's circumstances. One item of drift: the US brokerage account, scheduled for migration in the Build, was not moved and remains in the principal's personal name.
03 Stewardship · Premium
A shortened report from a multisignature recovery exercise for scenario 02. Every exercise report sets out its objectives, its findings and the remediation that follows.
Recovery carried out on a test network wallet mirroring the live wallet's policy. No live funds were moved. Autark observed by video and did not see, receive or record any key material. The principal was not present, by design.
| Step | Result | Observation |
|---|---|---|
| Key-holders located their devices and backups | Passed | Both within 24 hours. |
| Wallet software restored from backup | Passed, with observations | One key-holder's device needed a firmware update not covered by the procedure; delay of two hours. |
| Recovery transaction signed and broadcast | Passed | Completed on the second attempt. |
| Trustee accepted the recovery instruction | Failed | The trustee's new compliance officer required a certified copy of a document not in the key-holder pack. |
| Action | Owner | By |
|---|---|---|
| Add firmware update steps to the recovery procedure | Autark | 2 weeks |
| Add a certified copy of the deed of appointment to each key-holder pack | Trustee, with Autark | 4 weeks |
| Re-test trustee acceptance only | Autark and trustee | 8 weeks |
This exercise tested the recovery path under the conditions described, on the date it was run. It did not test the live wallet, the principal's own keys, or any court or regulatory process. It shows how the arrangement performed; it does not guarantee future access to any asset.
A structure involves several parties, each with its own duties. Our role is to design the whole, direct its build and keep it coherent. We do not take over anyone else's duties.
| Party | Responsible for | Not responsible for |
|---|---|---|
| Autark | Designing the structure, selecting and directing providers in the Build, drafting within our competence, coordinating across jurisdictions, monitoring and testing under Stewardship | Holding assets or keys, managing investments, acting as trustee, or giving local-law and tax opinions outside our qualifications |
| Trustee or foundation council | Holding legal title to trust or foundation assets and administering them under the deed or charter and local law | The design of the wider structure, or assets held outside the vehicle |
| Local counsel | Formal opinions and specialist drafting under their own law, on our instructions and yours | How their part fits into the structure as a whole |
| Tax advisers | Tax advice and filings in the jurisdictions where you or the structure are taxable | Structural, succession and custody design |
| Banks and custodians | Holding and moving assets, and their own compliance decisions | Whether the structure around the account works |
| Registered agents | Corporate filings, registered office and statutory records | Advice on the structure |
| You and your key-holders | Holding your keys and devices securely, keeping us informed of changes, and taking part in exercises | Knowing the law or the technology: the procedures are written so that you do not have to |
The Snapshot takes about five minutes and asks for no account numbers or balances. Where your assets exceed USD 5 million, it leads into a free 30-minute qualifying call and, where we can help, a proposal for Standing Counsel or a fixed-price Blueprint.