Why heirs often resist the family office

The scale of intergenerational wealth transfer is no longer theoretical - it’s operational. Yet many family offices are discovering a hard truth: structures alone don’t transfer wealth. People do.

Heirs often resist the family office not because they reject responsibility, but because they reject relevance. Too many next-gen beneficiaries experience the family office as something built around them, not with them. Legacy reporting, opaque decision-making, and a language rooted in preservation rather than purpose can alienate a generation raised on transparency, agency, and impact.

At Reckon, we see this play out repeatedly. Founders optimise for control and efficiency; heirs look for meaning, flexibility, and voice. When those priorities clash, disengagement follows - sometimes quietly, sometimes destructively. The result is not just family tension, but strategic risk: missed opportunities, governance breakdowns, and ultimately failed wealth transitions.

The most effective family offices in 2026 are reframing engagement. They are treating heirs as stakeholders-in-training, not passive recipients. This means earlier involvement, clearer education around why structures exist, and space for next-gen values, whether that’s entrepreneurship, philanthropy, or alternative investments - to shape the agenda.

Wealth transfer succeeds when trust transfers with it. That requires emotional intelligence alongside technical excellence.

If you advise families, run a family office, or are building one for the future, now is the moment to rethink next-gen engagement.

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Let’s start the conversation, reach out to us today.

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