The Family Focus
By my count, in the relatively short history of our website, our firm's lawyers have blogged on the transfer of wealth by the boomers to their children on six separate occasions. See, for example, this blog and this blog. And our blogs reflect a trend to report on the subject as the dominant sociological issue in the business media. See, for example, this piece by Jonathan Chevreau of the National Post.
Numerous surveys have been released as to the intentions of boomers with respect to their estate plans. The fundamental characteristic is a focus (on those in their fifties) on enjoying quality time with their families and ensuring that their estate plan properly provides for their children both before and after they are gone. Some have suggested that this "family focus" is a departure from previous generations although I think this is open to question. Nonetheless, the statistics are illuminating, particularly respecting inter-vivos gifts to children.
Take, for instance, the findings of a Royal Bank of Canada Poll released in November, 2007:
1. Fifty-seven per cent of Canadians in their fifties have received or are expecting to receive money from their parents and in-laws;
2. Approximately three in five respondents in their fifties expect to give money, during their lifetime, to their own adult children; of those, sixty-nine per cent say they will do so because they want to see their children enjoy their lives; seven per cent say that they would not, believing that their children need to earn their own way or wait until their parent dies.
5. When contemplating their legacy, seven in ten respondents want to be remembered as a person who enjoyed time with their family. This family focus is also reflected in the finding that four in five of those in their fifties believe that "their children are their legacy."
David M. Smith
