The Family Map

Seeing the whole family before planning the money

Financial planning rarely affects one person in isolation. Partners, children, grandchildren, ageing parents and other dependants can all influence the decisions a client makes and the purpose their wealth ultimately serves.

The Family Map is a visual approach to understanding that wider family picture. It brings together relationships, households, dependencies and relevant professional advisers, creating a single reference point from which to consider how money may move through the family and where future responsibilities may arise.

Its purpose is not to replace the fact-find, but to help both adviser and client see the information differently. By considering the family as a whole rather than as individual pieces of information, the map can prompt better conversations about support, vulnerability, lifetime gifting, fairness between family members, estate planning and the longer-term movement of wealth.

Used as a living document, it can be revisited as family circumstances change and provide a visual foundation for deeper, more holistic financial planning.

The Family Map is Map 1 of the developing Navigating Finance 6-Map Discovery approach.