While I have a great deal of respect for attorneys and financial advisors who are working with family businesses, one area where I see them consistently stop short in their work is in viewing the will and estate plan as instruments for resolving discord within the family.

Wills and estate plans provide the structure for succession. But they do not address family issues such as long-term sibling rivalries. Rather, they may even become the flash points for buried unrest.

Trust and communication however, provide a foundation for mutigenerational success, and these come from another set of skills.