Don’t Leave Your Children All Your Money

Why Faithful Stewardship Should Continue Long After You're Gone

What if the most loving thing you could do for your children is not leave them all your money?

For many Christian parents, leaving an inheritance to their children is viewed as the culmination of a lifetime of hard work and faithful stewardship. Scripture certainly affirms providing for one’s family. Proverbs 13:22 reminds us, “A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children.” But perhaps the better question is not whether we should leave an inheritance, but what kind of inheritance we should leave.

Getty Images / Unsplash+

In many cases, the most faithful stewardship may actually involve leaving our children less than everything.

That statement may sound surprising, but both Scripture and experience suggest that wealth, when transferred without preparation or purpose, often becomes more of a burden than a blessing.

Most Inheritances Do Not Produce Lasting Wealth

Research consistently demonstrates that inherited wealth frequently disappears within a relatively short period of time. The Williams Group has reported that approximately 70% of affluent families lose their wealth by the second generation and 90% by the third. While those figures are sometimes debated in their precise application, the broader conclusion is widely accepted among estate planners: financial capital rarely survives unless accompanied by character, wisdom, and intentional preparation.

Similarly, research from The Heritage Institute has concluded that failed wealth transfers are driven far more by family communication, trust, and preparedness than by taxes or investment performance.

Money magnifies character; it rarely creates it.

Many adult children simply are not prepared to manage a sudden inheritance. Without financial maturity, inherited wealth can be spent quickly, invested poorly, or become a source of family conflict. Generosity without wisdom may unintentionally weaken the very people we hope to bless.

Stewardship Doesn’t End at Death

As Christians grow older, something interesting often happens. Mortgages shrink or disappear. Retirement accounts appreciate. Investment portfolios grow. Businesses increase in value. Real estate that once seemed modest becomes a significant asset.

Access to MinistryWatch content is free. However, we hope you will support our work with your prayers and financial gifts. To make a donation, click here.

For many believers, the largest financial gift they will ever give is not during their lifetime but at their death.

Christians have long understood the importance of honoring God with the “firstfruits” of their income during life (Proverbs 3:9-10). Yet as our assets often grow substantially over a lifetime, we should ask whether our stewardship ought to end at death — or whether our accumulated resources can continue serving both our families and God’s Kingdom long after we’re gone.

Jesus frequently spoke about treasures, stewardship, and eternal investment (Matthew 6:19-21; Luke 16:10-13). The issue is not whether our families matter — they certainly do — but whether everything we have accumulated ultimately belongs to us or to God.

Faithful stewardship should not stop with our final breath.

A Better Way to Bless Both Family and Ministry

Estate planning is often presented as an either-or proposition: either leave everything to your children or give it away to charity.

In reality, thoughtful planning allows families to accomplish both.

One increasingly attractive approach is establishing a family trust that distributes income to children over 20 or 25 years rather than providing one large lump-sum inheritance. Such arrangements often protect assets from impulsive spending, provide steady financial assistance during life’s most expensive years, and encourage long-term planning rather than short-term consumption.

At the same time, parents can dedicate a meaningful portion of their estate to a charitable trust, donor-advised fund, or ministry endowment that continues supporting Kingdom work for generations.

Imagine an estate that blesses your children every year while simultaneously funding church planting, Christian education, missions, leadership development, or ministries serving vulnerable families long after you are in heaven.

Rather than choosing between family and ministry, wise stewardship often allows us to invest in both.

The Greatest Legacy Cannot Be Measured in Dollars

Financial inheritance matters, but it is never the greatest inheritance.

Children remember values longer than valuables.

They inherit convictions, generosity, integrity, faithfulness, humility, work ethic, and love for Christ long before they inherit investment accounts.

Perhaps one of the greatest gifts parents can leave is the example of someone who truly believed that everything belonged to God.

Family meetings explaining your estate plan can become opportunities to communicate why generosity matters, why ministries deserve support, and why stewardship is an act of worship rather than merely financial planning.

In many cases, those conversations become more valuable than the assets themselves.

Planning Your Estate Is a Spiritual Responsibility

Estate planning is often viewed as a legal exercise or a financial exercise. Scripture suggests it is also a spiritual one.

Jesus’ parables repeatedly describe believers as stewards entrusted with another’s possessions (Matthew 25:14-30; Luke 12:42-48). The question is never simply how much we accumulated, but how faithfully we managed what God entrusted to us.

That responsibility does not expire when life ends.

Preparing a will, establishing appropriate trusts, communicating intentions clearly, minimizing unnecessary conflict, and intentionally supporting God’s work are all expressions of faithful stewardship.

None of us knows how long we will live. But all of us will eventually transfer everything we own to someone else.

The only question is whether that transfer will happen accidentally or intentionally.

Christian stewardship is about more than giving wisely while we live. It is also about giving wisely after we die. When we thoughtfully provide for our families while continuing to invest in God’s Kingdom, we leave something far greater than wealth.

We leave a testimony that even in death, Christ remained our greatest treasure.

Perhaps the final act of stewardship is deciding what your money will accomplish after you’re no longer here to spend it.

Sources and Further Reading

• Carstensen, Laura L. “A Long Bright Future: Happiness, Health, and Financial Security in an Age of Increased Longevity”. New York: PublicAffairs, 2009.
• Drucker, Peter F. “Managing the Nonprofit Organization: Principles and Practices.” New York: HarperBusiness, 1990.
• Dunn, Richard J., and Janice M. Davis. “Giving USA 2025: The Annual Report on Philanthropy for the Year 2024.” Giving USA Foundation.
• The Heritage Institute. “The Cycle of the Estate Plan.”
• The Williams Group. “Preparing Heirs: Five Steps to a Successful Transition of Family Wealth.”
• Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2016.

For More Information

If you are interested in exploring how your estate can bless both your family and the Kingdom of God, consider speaking with a qualified Christian estate-planning attorney or charitable planning specialist. Organizations such as the National Christian Foundation, Barnabas Foundation, Christian Community Foundation, and many Christian colleges, universities, and ministries offer complimentary legacy planning resources and can help you think through options such as wills, revocable living trusts, charitable remainder trusts, donor-advised funds, charitable gift annuities, and ministry endowments.

The goal of biblical estate planning is not simply tax efficiency — it is faithful stewardship. A well-designed plan can provide wisely for your heirs, reduce unnecessary taxes and conflict, and continue supporting the ministries and causes God has placed on your heart for generations to come.

Dan Burrell, Ed.D is a pastor, graduate school professor and Chairman of the Board of MinistryWatch with over four decades of ministry leadership experience.  He resides in Huntersville, N.C.