How long should we take before finalizing our Founder's Mandate?

Don't sign the Mandate the day you draft it. Sleep on it. Talk about it for a week. Let it simmer. Sign it only when both spouses feel it in their bones. Kris Kluver, in The Dysfunctional Family Office, gives this advice to Robert and Joanne Mitchell directly. The Mandate is a living document that will shape the family for decades. It deserves the time to settle before anyone commits to the language. Couples often discover, in the days after the first draft, that there's a phrase they want to sharpen, a section they want to add, or a fear they hadn't named. Each round of revision usually produces a more honest document. Rush this and you end up signing something that doesn't actually represent what you want.