One in six $25M clients have no estate plan, will or trust

Two in five wealthy individuals (39%) do not have a comprehensive estate plan, according to the U.S. Trust Insights on Wealth and Worth cited in a WealthManagement.com column on estate and giving plans. The same column notes that 64% of wealthy individuals place a high value on the legacy they can pass to the next generation.

Among clients worth $25 million or more, one in six (16%) has no estate plan, will or trust, according to a separate survey the column cites without naming. The column's author, writing in the first person, says those figures may seem high but are probably not far off.

A CEG Insights survey of 400 affluent investors found 87% wanted to make a meaningful impact through charitable activities, but only 6% report getting charitable planning advice from their advisors. That leaves an 81-percentage-point gap between stated charitable intent and advice received, which suggests planned giving is not coming up in client reviews.

The column illustrates the cost with a couple in their mid-60s worth $55 million and four adult children. Their trust was drafted 25 years ago, long before they amassed significant wealth. Both had served as presidents of charitable boards and made significant charitable pledges, yet the plan made no provisions for charity, saved them nothing in taxes and distributed vast sums of money to their children outright. The column says their financial and wealth advisors never thought to ask about it.

The action the column presses on advisors is to ask A-list clients directly about estate plans, succession plans and charitable intentions rather than assume the plans are current. It attributes advisor reluctance to two mental blocks: competence anxiety and technical gaps, and perceived disintermediation and asset drainage risks — bringing in estate planning and planned giving experts can feel like a financial threat to the advisor's firm.