36% of Ultra-Wealthy Parents Hide Family Fortune Size From Heirs

Sixty-one percent of ultra-high-net-worth parents worry that inherited money will dull their children's motivation, and 36% have responded by not telling their heirs how much the family is actually worth, according to a June Bank of America study. The survey defined ultra-high-net-worth as households holding more than $25 million in investable assets.

Only about a third of those respondents—36%—describe their heirs as "very prepared" for the inheritance coming to them. The gap between what parents fear and what children can handle is now shaping how the wealthiest families structure their estates.

What are the ultrawealthy doing about it?

Beyond secrecy, the Bank of America study found concrete actions. Half of respondents—51%—are backing their children's business ventures. Another 41% are adding provisions to trusts designed to condition how and when money reaches the next generation.

The anxiety has a voice. "Leaving a legacy for my children while still instilling in them the drive and desire to work and be productive" was the largest challenge in wealth planning, according to one ultra-high-net-worth Baby Boomer quoted in the study.

Not everyone accepts the premise that heirs are simply unfit. Matthew Saul, founder and CEO of wealth advisory firm Saul Wealth, told Fortune that families who call their children unprepared usually have themselves to blame. "When a family says the kids aren't ready, what they usually mean is that nobody prepared them," he said. "That is a planning problem, and it is solvable."

Saul argues that silence is the wrong tool. "There is no benefit to leaving the next generation in the dark," he said, urging families to hold open dialogues about the estate plan, family properties, and philanthropic intent—both during life and for what happens after the eldest generation is gone. The caveat: openness requires effort that secrecy does not, and families who never started the conversation face the hardest catch-up.

Why is succession such a weak spot?

Bank of America's study also examined business owners within the $124 trillion wealth transfer now underway. While 78% of wealthy business owners consider succession planning important to their wealth strategy, only 20% have a fully documented succession plan. Family conversations ranked among their biggest estate-planning obstacles.

Longevity compounds the problem. More than nine in 10 respondents—92%—consider longevity important to financial planning, and longer lifespans stretch the period in which multiple generations share financial decisions. Heirs now must learn not only how to receive wealth but how to manage businesses and assets over decades.

Inheritance of businesses is accelerating. Among wealthy business owners surveyed, 23% said they had inherited their businesses—up from 11% in 2024 and 5% in 2022, a more than fourfold increase in two years.

Do parents and children even agree?

A 2025 Fidelity study of parents aged 55 and older with at least $500,000 in investable assets found deep avoidance. Sixty-eight percent of those parents have not told their children what—or how much—they will inherit.

The distrust is specific. Forty-three percent of parents do not believe their children can stick to a budget, and 40% are not confident in their children's ability to manage debt.

The children see it differently. Ninety-five percent of adult children told Fidelity they are ready to manage inherited wealth, yet a quarter of parents disagree. "Families who co-plan by discussing wishes, roles and responsibilities together, report greater confidence that their plans will be carried out seamlessly," the Fidelity study read.

David Peterson, head of Advanced Wealth Solutions at Fidelity Investments, framed the stakes in a press release: "Planning for the future isn't just about protecting wealth–it's also about protecting relationships."

Is the preparation gap closing?

There are signs of movement. Katie Carlson, head of wealth strategy at Bank of America Private Bank, told Fortune: "Our study suggests we should spend just as much time preparing the next generation for wealth. The good news is that 79% of respondents are already involving financial advisors, at least to some degree, in estate planning conversations with their children."

Even so, that same 79% figure sits against the unchanged 36% who call their heirs very prepared. Advisers in the room, in plain words, have not yet translated into heirs who are ready.

Saul also notes a generational shift in giving: younger heirs often want to preserve family charitable traditions while favoring hands-on involvement and measurable impact. "What matters is how the family handles it," he said. "The point is the collective, the family unit and its mission, not what any one member wants on their own."

As the $124 trillion transfer accelerates, families that delay these conversations will hand their heirs not just wealth, but unresolved questions about what it is for.