Estate plans are often designed to transfer wealth efficiently. Families, however, do not experience wealth transfer as a legal transaction but rather through expectations, responsibilities, memories, and relationships. That is why even a technically sophisticated plan may leave a family vulnerable to conflict if heirs do not understand its purpose.
The findings of the Wealth & Investment Management 2026 Wealth Transfer Study underscore the stakes. Among adult children whose families experienced inherited wealth, 61% reported a negative family experience such as hurt feelings, disagreements about fairness, estrangement, or legal fights. Nearly half believe inheritance discussions could trigger family conflict, compared with only 20% of parents. That disconnect suggests preserving family relationships may depend as much on preparation and communication as on the transfer itself.
The first step is to help ensure your plan clearly articulates what you want it to accomplish.
“One of the greatest gifts you can leave your family is clarity,” says Sarah Munson, private wealth planning director, Wealth & Investment Management, Wells Fargo Clearing Services, LLC.
Documents should explain intentions, reduce ambiguity, and, when appropriate, guide heirs or trustees, Munson says. Trusts may help protect an inheritance by providing guardrails around how and when beneficiaries receive assets. If a trust is intended to support education or a business venture, consider whether it gives the trustee enough direction to carry out that purpose. Depending on the assets involved, the plan may call for an individual or a corporate trustee. A corporate trustee may be particularly helpful for complex assets or long-term, multigenerational trusts.
Clarity becomes especially important when fair does not mean equal. Business-owning families may plan for children active in the business to receive ownership interests while other children receive liquid or nonbusiness assets. Working with advisors to run the numbers can reveal whether a plan that divides assets actually produces the intended result. In some circumstances, life insurance policies may help equalize an inheritance.
Preparing heirs does not require disclosing every dollar at once. Lorilee Mills, family dynamics, education, and governance consultant, Wealth & Investment Management, Wells Fargo Clearing Services, LLC, recommends beginning with values and wealth structure. Families can first discuss what their wealth is meant to accomplish, how trusts work, and inheritance responsibilities. This approach reflects strong common ground: 84% of parents and 86% of adult children in the Wealth Transfer Study said values, rather than money, are the most important thing passed from one generation to the next.
“It’s often helpful to raise the blinds slowly versus throwing back the curtains,” Mills says. “Nobody learns to be a multimillionaire in a four-hour meeting. It takes time and repetition.”
She also encourages families to let younger generations experience some “grit” and financial firsts before significant wealth arrives. That might mean holding a job, preparing a business plan before borrowing from the family, or contributing toward a home purchase. The goal is not to withhold support but to help rising generations develop financial skills and judgment.
Charitable giving can provide a practical setting for families to learn stewardship. Participation in a family foundation or charitable strategy may help family members discuss shared priorities, practice decision-making, and connect wealth with a broader purpose.
Popular culture has turned the reading of a will into a dramatic moment filled with surprises and revelations. But surprises are what families should strive to avoid, says Mills, and even a thoughtful plan cannot create shared understanding if it is never discussed.
Many parents fear burdening their children, and the research found that only 21% of parents surveyed had held detailed conversations about their estate plans. Meanwhile, 61% of adult children worried that raising the subject could make them appear interested only in their parents’ money.
Parents can break that stalemate by explaining the “why behind the what,” particularly when children will receive different assets, access, or responsibilities. A professionally led family meeting can help. In fact, 76% of adult children surveyed believed a professionally facilitated meeting about their parents’ estate plan would be beneficial. Advisors, attorneys, tax professionals, and family dynamics specialists can explain the plan objectively, introduce future generations to the advisory team, and create space for questions.
Communication cannot guarantee harmony, but it can provide greater clarity before grief, new responsibilities, and a transition occur.
“Start the conversation early,” Munson says. “Taking this step while you still have the ability goes a long way in preserving your family’s relationships.”
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The Wells Fargo Wealth & Investment Management 2026 Wealth Transfer Study was conducted by Versta Research on behalf of Wells Fargo. The study included online surveys of 817 Baby Boomer parents ages 61 to 79 with at least $1 million in investable assets who expect to transfer wealth to their children, and 787 adult children ages 29 to 60 whose parents have at least $1 million in investable assets. The parent sample included an oversample of households with more than $3 million in investable assets, including households with more than $10 million. Survey responses were weighted by asset level using Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances data to reflect the broader population of affluent U.S. households. Interviews were conducted online between May 11 and June 10, 2026. Findings are intended to provide insight into how affluent families are approaching wealth transfer, inheritance, estate planning, financial preparedness, and legacy planning.
Wells Fargo & Company and its affiliates do not provide tax or legal advice. This communication cannot be relied upon to avoid tax penalties. Please consult your tax and legal advisors to determine how this information may apply to your own situation. Whether any planned tax result is realized by you depends on the specific facts of your own situation at the time your tax return is filed.
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