Tough Financial Times Cause Family Members to Fend for Themselves

Many peoples’ savings shrank during the financial crisis. This forced wealthy parents to earmark more of their estate for their own expenses while their children’s need for an inheritance increased. Sometimes advisers are caught in the middle of these situations, which is a difficult place to be.

Lauren Lindsay, a financial adviser in Louisiana, tries to tell her clients that they would be fortunate to not have to support their aging parents, much less receive an inheritance. On the other end, Todd Ganos who advises in California, tells his older clients not to worry about the children, telling them, “You need to make sure you’re OK.”

Jilian Mincer & Annie Gasparro, News for Brokers, Wealth Managers and Their Clients, W.S.J., Nov. 1, 2010.

Special thanks to Joel Dobris (Professor of Law, UC Davis School of Law) for bringing this to my attention.