Inheritance conflict is the rule, not the exception, Wells Fargo finds
While 81% of parents say all necessary estate planning documents are in place, only 66% of adult children believe that is true. And even among parents who have completed their documentation, 44% acknowledge they do not fully understand what their own estate plan does.
More than one in five adult children do not know whether they have been named as an executor or trustee (22%) or granted power of attorney for health care or financial matters (22%).
Lorne Maltenfort, national director of Private Wealth Planning at Wells Fargo Wealth & Investment Management, pointed to the limits of paperwork alone. “The challenge facing many families isn’t a lack of planning,” he said. “It’s a lack of shared understanding and alignment. Documents alone don’t create preparedness. Successful wealth transfer also requires context, communication, and clarity around roles and responsibilities.”
The family business blind spot
The disconnect between generations is sharpest in families with an operating business. While 67% of business owners’ adult children expect the family enterprise to be passed on to them or their siblings, fewer than one in five business owners (19%) actually plan to transfer ownership that way. Many instead anticipate selling to an outside buyer (24%) or gradually winding the business down (36%) – a 48-percentage-point gap between expectation and intention.
“Many children assume they’re preparing to inherit a business,” Maltenfort said. “Many parents have entirely different plans. Neither perspective is necessarily wrong, but surprise is not a good succession strategy.”
