The family accountant knows every dividend ever declared. The lawyer remembers the first trust deed. There is loyalty here, and gratitude. But there is also a feeling that the conversations have stopped evolving. For the next generation, this is a hard truth to sit with. Firing a parent's professional adviserfeels personal, almost disrespectful.

Blended families begin with good intentions. Often after carrying the weight of past relationships, two people commit to building a new life together.. They bring children, assets, expectations, and history to the table, and hope that love will be enough to make it all cohere. Yet beneath the warmth of new beginnings, complexity almost always waits. The challenges rarely surface immediately. At first there is energy in creating a sense of unity- shared meals, new traditions,

But what about those waiting in the wings? It’s easy to assume the next generation is ready to step up, but capacity here is about more than just meeting the legal minimum. It’s about financial literacy, emotional intelligence, and the ability to navigate the sometimes choppy waters of family dynamics.

For family businesses, the end to the financial year is much more than just a date on the calendar or a stack of invoices waiting to be reconciled. It is a time when the conversations shift from what happened last quarter to what comes next, not just for the business, but for the family running it.