Wealth Transfer Could Break Families, So Talk Before It Does | Opinion

Detailed summary

The warning signs are already here. In its 2026 Wealth Transfer Study of affluent families, Wells Fargo found that 61 percent of surveyed adult children reported negative family…

The Great Wealth Transfer could leave families richer on paper and poorer in every way that matters.

Without honest conversations before inheritance changes hands, siblings can become adversaries, family businesses can collapse, and communities can lose employers.

We must stop treating inheritance as a private financial transaction. It is a family responsibility.

An estimated $124 trillion is expected to move between generations in the United States over the coming decades, with annual transfers from Baby Boomers projected to approach $5 trillion by 2048, according to Bank of America Private Bank’s 2026 Study of Wealthy Americans.

The warning signs are already here. In its 2026 Wealth Transfer Study of affluent families, Wells Fargo found that 61 percent of surveyed adult children reported negative family experiences tied to inherited wealth, including hurt feelings, disputes over fairness, estrangement, and legal battles.

Yet only 21 percent of parents said they had held detailed conversations with their children about their estate plans. The gap between what parents believe they have prepared and what their children understand is a recipe for conflict.

I have seen how grief and money can turn a painful moment into a family crisis. People grieve differently. One person may need time to mourn; another may throw themselves into paperwork and practical decisions.

That urgency can be mistaken for greed. Without context, even well-intentioned actions can look like betrayal.

A will or trust matters. These documents carry legal force and can protect a family’s intentions. But they cannot explain why one child is taking over a business while another receives different assets, or repair a relationship after resentment has hardened.

Opening of the article, excerpted from Newsweek. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.