Generation gap alive and well when it comes to estate planning. Baby boomers are more reluctant to talk to their parents about estate planning than they need to be. While that reticence could stem from a natural desire to spare one’s elders the pain of confronting the specter of death, it can mean trouble for the succeeding generation – trouble that most members of the senior generation would willingly spare their grown-up children.

A recent study by Washington-based market-researchers Greenwald & Associates suggests that 76% of parents between the ages of 70 and 79 are “very comfortable” sharing their plans with their adult children. Meanwhile only 46% of U.S. adults between the ages of 45 and 65 feel the same way about asking their parents about how they – the parents – plan to dispose of their estates.

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The study came up with a number of similarly eye-opening findings, all pointing to poor communication between the generations.

Parents are far more at ease discussing the content of their wills than their children realize, with 71 percent of them saying they are "very comfortable" Children underestimate the importance parents place on providing for their heirs, improving their children’s lifestyles, helping their children prepare for retirement, and helping grandchildren meet college expenses Significantly more parents report having important estate planning documents such as living wills and durable power of attorneys than children report knowing about them Almost all parents report talking to their children about their estate plans, but fewer children say they have had this discussion, and know less about their parents’ plans than their parents seem to think

This communication gap could result in a significant portion of the boomer-generation inheritors becoming overwhelmed by “the legal and tax issues that come with processing an estate,” according to the Hartford Financial Services Group, which sponsored the Greenwald study.

And the scale of the problem could be big. Boomers are in line for the biggest-ever inter-generational wealth hand-down in history, with U.S. transfers reaching the $5-trillion mark by 2017, according to the Center for Wealth and Philanthropy at Boston College.

To help families forestall problems connected with estate planning and other wealth matters, Hartford Financial Services is coaching financial advisors on ways to get family members talking. After all, says the insurance company, open discussion between the generations – passing on stories, memories and values – has helped keep families together down through the ages. Why shouldn’t frank and positive talk about a lifetime of accumulated savings and valuables play a similar role?

Advisors can click here to get a glimpse of Hartford Financial Services’ “Conversations: Estate Planning” facilitation program.

Hartford, Conn.-based Hartford Financial Services provides annuities, mutual funds, college savings plans as well as group and employee benefits and life, car, home and business insurance. About 11,000 independent agencies and more than 100,000 registered broker/dealers sell the company’s products. –FWR

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