Inheritance is not always a good thing

"From shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in 3 generations".

Families are finding it difficult to maintain their wealth for multiple generations.

There are a number of potential problems with the transfer of great wealth. Many children have a difficult time coming to grips with the unearned wealth that they acquire. With wealth comes responsibility and unfortunately young people are not easily taught about responsible action.

Children in wealthy families often feel a sense of unworthiness questioning what they had done to deserve the wealth through no effort of their own. Research also shows that children of wealthy families suffer from low self-esteem for this very reason. Success becomes defined as being primarily through lineage and not by way of personal achievement.

For this reason more and more of the wealthy are choosing not to leave their wealth to their children.

That's not to say that a family might abrogate on it's responsibility to ensure that preceding generations do not spend their lives in squalor. Warren Bufffet said it best when he declared that he's leaving enough for his children so that they will do something and not so that they do nothing.