Understand a Family's Emotional Dynamics
Advisors should learn to recognize a family's emotional dynamics and whether they create the potential for harmful relationships. --Mitchell Rose
Estate plans can positively influence heirs' future behavior and reduce family conflicts--or they can reinforce unproductive behaviors, intensify poor communication, and create lasting wounds...Advisors should learn to recognize a family's emotional dynamics and whether they create the potential for harmful relationships. Giving money to children who are either chronologically or emotionally immature, narrowly restricting the terms of an inheritance, and giving unequal amounts to different siblings can all create poisonous resentments down the line. Advisors can provide a great service to families--and also gain the lasting loyalty of future generations of clients--by helping them avoid these pitfalls.
-Mitchell Rose, a former advisor, is a New York-based financial writer and an editorial consultant to financial services firms, in Emotional Rescue
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