How to Use This Checklist

Check each item that applies to your family today.

These are not aspirational goals — they are present-tense risk flags. If a statement is true of your family right now, check it. Your total flag count determines your risk profile. Flags in red are the highest-priority items to address first.

8–12

High Risk

Multiple critical gaps exist. Structured preparation should begin immediately — before any transfer discussion.

4–7

Moderate Risk

Real gaps present. The full Heirloom assessment will identify which dimensions need the most attention.

0–3

Lower Risk

Strong foundation in place. Use the full assessment to measure precisely and find any remaining blind spots.

Communication & Transparency

4 indicators

We have never had a direct, substantive conversation about what our heirs will inherit or when.

The single strongest predictor of transfer failure. Heirs who are surprised by inheritance amounts or structure are significantly more likely to mismanage them. — Williams & Preisser, Preparing Heirs

Our heirs do not know the names of our key advisors — estate attorney, CPA, wealth manager — or how to reach them.

At the time of transfer, operational chaos is a leading cause of asset loss. Heirs who can't locate advisors often make costly unilateral decisions.

We have not discussed the values or intentions behind major estate planning decisions with our heirs.

Understanding why structures exist dramatically increases the likelihood heirs will honor them. — Campden Wealth, Family Office Report 2024

More than two years have passed since we held any structured conversation about wealth, inheritance, or family financial expectations.

Inheritance readiness deteriorates without reinforcement. One-time conversations are rarely retained. Regularity matters.

Financial Readiness

3 indicators

Our heirs have never been responsible for managing a meaningful budget, business, or investment — with real consequences for failure.

53% of family offices cite next-gen financial unpreparedness as a primary transfer risk. Managing real money, not simulations, is the only effective preparation. — RBC/Campden 2024

Our heirs cannot explain the difference between capital that grows and capital that depletes.

Basic wealth literacy — distinguishing investment income from principal — is a foundational requirement for responsible stewardship.

At least one heir depends significantly on our financial support and has not developed independent earning capacity.

Financial dependence at the time of transfer correlates strongly with poor long-term stewardship outcomes. Autonomy must be built before transfer, not after.

Governance & Structure

3 indicators

We have no defined process for how our heirs will make shared financial decisions after transfer — no family council, no governance framework, no decision protocol.

47% of family offices have no succession or governance plan. Without decision frameworks, sibling disagreements are the most common post-transfer cause of asset dissipation. — RBC/Campden 2024

We have not articulated — in writing or out loud — what we expect from heirs as stewards, not just recipients, of family wealth.

Explicit stewardship expectations dramatically increase the likelihood heirs will honor them. Implicit expectations create resentment and conflict.

Our heirs do not share a consistent understanding of our family's values around wealth — each would describe them differently.

Shared values are the connective tissue of multi-generational wealth. Without them, governance frameworks fail and capital decisions become purely self-interested.

Timing & Planning Gaps

2 indicators

We have completed legal and estate planning but have not done any structured evaluation of whether our heirs are prepared to receive what we've built.

Legal documents transfer assets. They do not transfer the wisdom, values, or capabilities required to steward them. Human preparation is a separate discipline that most estate plans never address.

We have put off inheritance conversations because the timing never feels right, the topic is uncomfortable, or we assume there is more time.

The average age at which parents first discuss wealth plans with adult children is 31 — far later than most family wealth advisors recommend. Delay is itself a risk. — Bank of America, 2024

Wealth TransferRisk Checklist

Check each item that applies to your family today.

Your results appear here.

The checklist identifies whether gaps exist.The assessment measures exactly where.

Wealth Transfer
Risk Checklist

The checklist identifies whether gaps exist.
The assessment measures exactly where.