The report, Breaking the wealth taboo: making succession a success, collated views of 270 millionaires. Some 37 per cent admitted to suffering serious conflict within the family when it came to dividing up the money and assets. One fifth of parents kept their true wealth a secret from children because they feared their offspring would lack the motivation to be ambitious or because they feared people will befriend the children for the wrong reasons.

Interestingly, given the widespread use of social media, there was a concern about the rise in publicly available information fuelled by the rise in social media sites about confidential family affairs.

Some 23 per cent of parents would consider insisting on or even raising the idea of a prenuptial agreement to inheritors, despite divorce rates of 42 per cent in the UK.

The report provides an eight-step journey to help wealthy families consider how best to pass down wealth in a way that meets their vision and objectives; it also features a number of real life case studies with stories such as “My daughter's ex got two-thirds of her money” and “We’re giving most of our money to charity”.

“In the UK, 46 per cent of marriages are subsequent marriages and with 2.5 million step-children in the UK, blended families and step-grandchildren are now part and parcel of family life which can add further complication to succession and inheritance planning. Our research shows that unless there is a clear plan and open communication about the succession process, family members can feel frightened and frustrated about how the family assets and money are divided following the death of both parents. This is already an emotional time – and can so easily lead to conflict, which in some instances can split families and cause long-term damage,” Juliette Johnson, executive director at the UK private bank, said.

“It is estimated that £1 trillion will pass down from one generation to the next over the next 20 years, and while many families will make this transfer successfully, many more may not, reinforcing the old phrase of ‘clogs to clogs in three generations’. One simple yet effective strategy of preserving the family wealth is to open up communication in the family and start to think about the various risks that could arise in the future and agree how they should be dealt with. It is easier to raise the idea of pre-nups before your children meet their prospective spouses,” Johnson said.