Book excerpt: This book is designed to be a guide to demystify the journey leading to preserving family legacy. It is based on the fact that a family business is a partnership among its members, and that the most successful family business succession plan is the one devised by the family itself. In this book, the author shares his unique experience working with hundreds of business families and next-generation family business entrepreneurs from across the world. His 7-Step MethodologyTM offers an innovative and a systemic approach to family business succession planning and related conflict management. It focuses on the importance of maintaining an open dialogue among family members, and it paves the way to a structured conversation among those interested in achieving an orderly transfer of wealth from one generation to another. The author further discusses the elements that traditionally cause tensions among partners who happen to be family members, and offers solutions that have been tried and tested over two decades and that are based on real-life examples and success stories. This text is designed for families in business who wish to start a succession planning conversation and to family business advisors invited to facilitate such a conversation.