Two in three (63%) of Financial Planners have encountered family disputes whilst advising on estate planning, according to a new report.

Just 11% of financial advisers have never experienced any family disputes during estate planning.

Encountering tension was most likely during inheritance tax planning than when estates are settled, with just 26% of the advisers surveyed by investment manager Downing experiencing family tension during the settling of estates.

A third (30%) of advisers said they always ensure other family members are involved when clients initially contact them about IHT planning and a further 58% say they usually do, while 10% say their first meeting is with the client before involving other family members. Just 2% say their policy is exclusively communicate with the client.

Three quarters (74%) of advisers said that involving family members in IHT planning is an important part of growing their business, while another 23% agreed that while involving family is beneficial to their business, it is not the only reason they do so.

Mark Dunn, head of retail sales at Downing said: “Inheritance can be emotive for families and that is certainly reflected in the experience of advisers.

“It is striking that advisers see more family disputes during IHT planning rather than over estate settlement, possibly demonstrating the wisdom of involving families from the start.

“It is also generally good for adviser businesses to involve family members in IHT planning as it introduces the adviser to the next generation which could help make them a client in the future.”

Pureprofile interviewed 100 UK financial advisers on behalf of Downing in November.