Business Family Justice in Ownership and Wealth Transfers
4TH FEBRUARY 2022
The Great Wealth Transfer will be the biggest wealth transfer in the UK, and Western countries, in modern history. It is estimated that £5.5 trillion in wealth will be transferred across generations within the UK over the next 30 years, with 90 percent to be transferred via inheritance bequests. Recent reports also highlight the increasing importance of inheritance on the life outcomes of younger population groups.
As key custodians and transfers of a significant part of the UK’s wealth through their business ownership, family business owners and the next generation of family owners are key actors in this transfer of wealth. This is because in business-owning families, their economic wealth is often embedded in their businesses, with family owners preferring to pass their business shares and wealth to close family members.
A new publication from the IFB Research Foundation looks at what this means for family firms in particular. The new evidence-based guidance (#19 in the charity’s Challenges Guide series) examines the justice and fairness dilemmas that can arise in intergenerational ownership and wealth transfer decisions. Representatives from several UK family firms as well as their advisers played a valuable role in the development of this new guidance.
The new Guidance will be of interest to business families, family business practitioners, as well as students and researchers interested in family business and wealth dynamics – and can be accessed here free of charge.