Do you trust your children to pass on an inheritance?

Financial planning across different generations can pose some tricky challenges, with family dynamics often throwing a spanner in the works of a carefully crafted financial plan.

One area of particular difficulty is making sure that inheritance finds its way down the generations, trickling down as intended from grandparent to child to grandchild.

SunLife recently published some research which found that this thorny issue is keeping many grandparents awake at night.

Their research found that most grandparents want to leave a legacy for their grandchildren and most of those want to ring fence that money to have certainty it will be passed on.

Seven in ten surveyed by the insurer said they want to leave an inheritance for their grandchildren.

Of those, more than half said they will leave the inheritance directly to their grandchildren, rather than trusting their children to pass the money on as planned.

[tweet_box]Grandparents want to leave a legacy for grandchildren, but do they trust kids to pass it on? [/tweet_box]

SunLife say that this decision to write grandchildren directly into the will could be to do with the types of relationships modern grandparents have with their grandchildren.

Ian Atkinson, spokesman at SunLife, said:

“…the fact that over two thirds plan to leave an inheritance direct to their grandchildren shows how much they’re in their thoughts.

“Of course, if you are planning to leave your grandchildren an inheritance, it’s important to have an up-to-date Will.

“Without one, the law will decide what happens to your estate so your wishes might not be met.”

Putting in place a valid will is such an important step when planning for the future, making sure that your wishes are reflected in this document.

For grandparents who want to make sure that grandchildren receive an intended legacy, using trusts can be a very effective way of passing money down the generations.

These legal instruments can also be used to reduce the inheritance tax paid by children or grandchildren when you die, making them popular for those planning for the future with expensive property values and other assets.

Do get in touch if you want to make sure your grandchildren receive the legacy you want to leave.