unHeritage: 11 Pitfalls to Family Legacy and How to Avoid Them

Revealed! Why 90% of wealthy families fail to create a positive legacy. This book, written by legacy planning experts, helps high-net-worth families and their advocates go beyond the inadequacies of all the best legal documents. Quality relationships - not quantity of dollars - ultimately define quality of life. Estate planning needs an extreme makeover. Growing recognition of this has led to a change in emphasis. Words like "heritage" and "legacy" have become commonplace in the wealth-transfer industry. Occasionally they signal a meaningful change in approach; sometimes they just amount to a new name on an old process. Unfortunately, the old process, despite the best wills and trusts in the world, cannot survive eleven pitfalls. 1. Unidentified family values 2. Generational disconnect 3. Husband/wife disconnect 4. Lack of next-generation leadership 5. Wayward child 6. Indecision leads to inaction 7. Lack of a succession plan 8. Misunderstanding how to treat heirs - equally or uniquely 9. Lack of beneficial modeling 10. Lack of generosity 11. Undeveloped family story There is a better way. Form should not dictate function. Accounting and legal procedures to preserve financial capital should not dictate the human outcomes you want to achieve. Good legacy planning puts the human outcomes first, because quality relationships - not quantity of dollars - ultimately define quality of life. Protect your heirs AND your assets. Discover your family brand equity by focusing on three neglected areas that deliver invaluable returns: * Family values * Family virtues * Family story