The private bank, part of US-listed KeyCorp, surveyed almost 130 of its client-facing advisors about their experiences of working with high net worth individuals on estate planning. 

Some 77 per cent of respondents said the hardest part of estate planning is “navigating inter-family dynamics”, and 43 per cent said that the biggest estate planning mistake is having no plan at all. The study found that the greatest misconception among clients is that “they are not that old and can plan later,” say half of advisors .

With an estimated $30 trillion of wealth expected to change hands in the coming years as the Baby Boom generation retires and passes away, inter-generational asset transfer and planning are big topics for the sector. 

Having no plan at all is the biggest estate planning mistake, cited by four in ten advisors , followed by not updating documents regularly . Many also say that clients inaccurately believe that a will can oversee the distribution of all their assets .

“Some clients may be hesitant to have a conversation about estate planning with their family members because they fear that sharing their wishes will cause conflict,” Andrea M Griffiths, JD, CWS® national manager Trust Settlement Administration, Key Private Bank, said.

“In designing an estate plan, clients must sort through a number of emotional and psychological issues, ranging from treatment of children - where what’s fair is not always what’s equal - to the beneficiaries’ perception of their relationship with the grantor, as well as their behaviours and potential biases toward other beneficiaries,” Griffiths said.

Challenge
Convincing clients to put an estate plan in place is a challenge, according to 34 per cent of advisors - but it is not as difficult as convincing clients to communicate their wishes openly and honestly with family members . Eight in ten advisors say that only “some” or “hardly any” clients are having open conversations about their estate plans and wishes with their families. As a result, four in ten advisors say that half or fewer than half of estate plans holistically capture their clients’ values in the transference of wealth to the next generation.

The poll also revealed that most estate planning conversations are being prompted by advisors – rather than clients or their family members - further highlighting a need for more proactive family financial discussions and the critical role that advisors play in moderating these conversations.

To see an article back in 2016 about the supposedly "soft topics" of wealth management, see here.