19 Sep When Your Children Aren’t Ready for Your Wealth
You’ve spent a lifetime building it: the businesses, the investments, the real estate portfolio. You know the sacrifices you made—the 16-hour days, the sleepless nights, the risks you took when others told you it couldn’t be done.
Now imagine this. The day you’re gone, your children inherit everything at once. But here’s the problem: one child is still immature, another is stuck in a shaky marriage, and another is drowning in debt. In a single moment, the empire you built becomes fuel for divorce lawyers, creditors, or reckless spending.
What took you 40 years to create can be destroyed in four years—or less.
That’s the brutal truth most successful families ignore until it’s too late. They assume their children will “figure it out.” But wealth doesn’t build character—it magnifies it. If your plan dumps millions into their laps without protections, you’re not giving them a blessing. You’re giving them a burden.
A well-designed estate plan changes all of that. With the right structures, you control how and when your children receive their inheritance, protecting them from poor decisions, outside predators, and their own worst impulses.
Because the real legacy isn’t just money—it’s ensuring your children and grandchildren are protected from losing everything you’ve worked so hard to give them.
A Familiar Story of Success… and Collapse
I’ll share a story—different faces, but the same pattern.
A successful couple, both driven entrepreneurs, built their family fortune from the ground up. They had multiple businesses, real estate across several states, and a portfolio that would make any financial advisor drool. Their net worth exceeded $25 million.
But when the husband passed unexpectedly, there was no clear estate plan in place. Sure, they had “something” drawn up years ago, but it was thin. Outdated. Worse—it didn’t anticipate the business disputes and power struggles that would erupt among their adult children.
One child believed the business should be sold. Another wanted to reinvest and expand. A third simply wanted distributions now. Their disagreements turned into lawsuits. The business stalled. Real estate projects sat idle. Growth evaporated.
What should have been a proud continuation of the family empire turned into years of bitter legal battles, squandered wealth, and broken relationships.
It wasn’t the IRS or outside competitors that killed their legacy. It was the family itself.
And it could have been avoided.
Why This Happens to Families Like Yours
If you’ve built a $20+ million net worth, you already know how to work hard. You know how to take calculated risks. You know how to manage growth.
But here’s the blind spot: most entrepreneurs assume their family will “do the right thing” after they’re gone.
That assumption is dangerous.
Because when you’re not here to mediate, the old sibling rivalries, the different philosophies about money, and the spouses whispering in your kids’ ears will take over. Add tens of millions of dollars to the mix, and you’ve got a recipe for disaster.
Just like a business without an operating agreement eventually crumbles under conflict, a family without a carefully designed estate plan collapses under the weight of its own wealth.
The Critical Protections Your Legacy Demands
Here’s what protects you—and them:
- A Comprehensive Estate Plan, Not a Patchwork of Documents
Beneficiary designations and joint ownership don’t cut it when you’re stewarding tens of millions. You need a living trust that coordinates everything, from your business holdings to your real estate to your liquid investments. - A Blueprint for How and When Your Children Inherit
A “dump it all in their laps at death” approach is a recipe for waste and resentment. Smart planning allows staged distributions, protections against divorce, creditors, and poor decision-making, and clarity about responsibilities. - Business Continuity Structures
If you own companies, a buy-sell agreement and succession plan aren’t optional—they’re mandatory. Otherwise, your heirs are left to brawl over direction, distributions, and management. - Regular Reviews and Updates
An estate plan isn’t a one-time event. Wealth grows, families change, tax laws shift. Your plan has to evolve too.
The Harsh Reality
If you die without putting these protections in place, your family won’t just lose money. They’ll lose each other.
I’ve seen it too many times. Wealth that could have lasted generations is gone in a decade. Children who once vacationed together no longer speak. Grandchildren grow up hearing only the bitter stories of “how granddad ruined everything.”
That is not the legacy you’ve worked your whole life to build.
What You Can Do Now
Here’s the bottom line: if your net worth is $20 million or more, excluding your primary residence, you cannot afford to leave your family exposed.
At Garza Law, we specialize in helping high-net-worth families like yours create bulletproof estate and business succession plans. We don’t work with everyone. We’re selective. Each year, we choose only a limited number of families to partner with, because crafting and protecting a multi-generational legacy takes focus, detail, and personal attention.
If you want to explore whether your family qualifies, the first step is simple: apply here → https://lgarzalaw.com/schedule-online/
Do it now. Don’t wait until it’s too late and your family is living out the nightmare scenario I’ve just described.
Protect your wealth. Protect your legacy. Protect your family from themselves.
Because the true test of your success isn’t what you build while you’re alive—it’s what survives after you’re gone.