Heir Flow: Transferring Wealth to the Next Generation
For years, you’ve worked hard and made careful decisions about your life and money. With time and some good fortune, you have managed to accumulate, grow and protect valuable assets. Now, you’re ready to shift your focus from acquiring wealth to transferring it to your heirs.
That transition can be challenging—whether your wealth is modest or considerable—because it is rarely as straightforward as dividing assets into equal parts and assigning them uniformly to designated recipients.
Wealth created by one generation can be a source of provision and opportunity for generations that follow. It can also create issues and unintended consequences for those who earned it and those who inherit it, unless there is an adequate, thoughtful strategy that leverages the counsel of legal, tax and financial professionals along the way.
Thought Process
Do you believe your heirs are automatically entitled to your wealth, or do you expect them to earn it in some way?
Do your heirs have enough financial knowledge and maturity to manage future wealth for themselves?
Does each heir get an equal share of your wealth? Or do you accommodate an heir’s unique needs in a disproportionate way?
How do you balance the need to provide for future generations with your desire to be philanthropic?
Family Counsel
Wealth transfer is likely to involve people who share a history with a lifetime of feelings, assumptions, and expectations to complicate it.
That is why the most difficult part of wealth transfer could actually be communication: clearly sharing your intentions with your heirs long before assets move from one generation to another.
Early and continuing preparation that allows everyone to participate, ask questions, and talk about concerns can prevent misunderstanding and damaged relationships years later.
Professional Help
Because wealth transfer is appropriately part of your comprehensive estate planning, you’ll want the counsel of individuals with expertise in areas that include legal issues, taxes, wills and trusts, investing, banking and risk management on your team.
Working together, these professionals can provide guidance about alternatives that could enable you to continue to preserve and grow assets, manage tax liabilities, advance your personal goals, and make the wealth transfer process more straightforward and less stressful for you and your heirs.
Would you like to talk to a financial professional? Contact Evans at 713.388.1367 or evans.attwell@frostbank.com.
Evans Attwell
Senior Vice President
Frost Bank
Investment and insurance products are not FDIC insured, are not bank guaranteed, and may lose value. Investment and insurance products are offered through Frost Brokerage Services, Inc., Member FINRA/SIPC. Frost Brokerage Services, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Frost Bank. Additionally, insurance products are offered through Frost Insurance. Deposit and loan products are offered through Frost Bank, Member FDIC. Frost does not provide legal or tax advice. Please seek legal or tax advice from legal and/or tax professionals