Financial Planners should build in compulsory ‘family updates’ from clients at each review meeting to kickstart the conversation on inter-generational wealth transfer, a leading Chartered Financial Planner has told Financial Planning Today.

Scott Palmer, Chartered Financial Planner at Walker Crips, says as the number of adults receiving an inheritance rises planners should seek family updates from clients at each meeting to ensure key planning issues are covered.

More than 11.6m people have received an inheritance in the past 10 years, with 47 the average age at which people receive a windfall, new research revealed earlier this month.

More than one in five adults (22%) have received an inheritance of some kind.

Parents were most likely to leave the biggest inheritance with an average sum left of £65,600 while grandparents on average left £24,200, a study by retirement specialist Key found.

The subject of inter-generational wealth planning can be a sensitive one with some clients reluctant to discuss their own mortality.

Scott Palmer, Chartered Financial Planner at Walker Crips, told Financial Planning Today that if Financial Planners built in regular family updates from their client at every review, it can make it much easier for the planner to have discussions around inter-generational wealth planning and encourage engagement with the next generation.

He said: “The first place to start is to have ‘family updates’ from the client at their review.  Ask questions around the family make-up and important family events.  From there you can start to dig into the client’s thoughts on passing wealth to children, grandchildren, and other family members, and the manner in which they would like to do this. 

“The next logical step is to then encourage wider family participation in each review.  This will encourage communication between generations and cover subject matter that they would not normally want to discuss. It also allows the wider family to understand the intentions of the client in order to prepare for the future.”

Mr Palmer said engaging with the next generation was not only imperative for Financial Planners from a commercial perspective to avoid an ageing client book, it was also an important part of their duty of care towards their clients.

He believes family updates and regular discussion of inter-generational wealth transfer may not always be covered in regular review meetings by some planners.

He said: “Engaging with the next generation is vital on many levels and looking at how to do this poses many questions for Financial Planners.

“As well as showing a duty of care to the client that you will nurture their assets long after they have passed, it is also an opportunity to demonstrate the benefits of careful Financial Planning to the younger generation.  It can also provide the next generation with a helping hand on the road to financial wellbeing, especially if they haven’t had to deal with managing personal finances before.”