Modern families in tech parlance can be considered as Family 2.0. This is the evolved, expanded and extended version from the traditional base be it in size, composition, geography or complexity. Their needs are not static. They have a finger on the pulse of the way the world is shaping up but it can easily be argued that in some ways they are the ones shaping it. They seem to have upended the traditional definitions, assumptions and way of life. They are enterprising, forward looking and agenda setting. They are praised but can also be pilloried – depending on whom you ask and what you ask.
However, confusion abounds on both side of the aisle. Modern families are a relatively new phenomenon and regulators and advisors seem to be grappling to get their arms around them.
Law at times is a laggard when it comes to keeping pace with the change of times. We have all seen regulators who end up fighting fire rather than preventing fire. Advisors are at times asleep at the wheel as well and may or may not have solutions for the evolving world of Modern Families.
Innovations at times are usually disregarded or belittled, until they can no longer be given the short end of the stick. Modernization is at times considered a passing fad but repeatedly it has been demonstrated that evolution is largely inevitable and irreversible.
Modern Families may be in their infancy but the maturity is not that far away. It would do well for the regulators and advisors to try modernize at their ends so that they are able to deliver the ecosystem and framework that Modern Families are getting around to asking and expecting of them.
I believe that the modernization task is two pronged.
One is from a legislative point of view and the other is from the advisory aspect. On the legislative side while I expect some landmark modern judgements; at the very base level, modernization may require attempting to draft new legal frameworks that revisit the definitions for concepts as elementary as family, gender, marriage and children. The bigger challenge will be in attempting to harmonize these definitions across multiple jurisdictions.
On the advisory side, modernization will require the advisors to get up to speed on how families are evolving and attempt to find solutions that can be hybrid, can blend beyond borders and can be flexible. Advisors will need to upgrade their skillset and their toolkits.
This article by Asher Noor, was first published in the STEP Journal UK.
