Christoph König * understood. Both his married children, daughter Lydia (37) and son Stefan (35), wanted to be more involved in preserving the family's considerable assets. Lydia and Stefan told him straight: “You're 74 years old. What are we to do if you’re suddenly gone?” They would someday be in charge of the family's assets anyway. That is why they wanted to establish early on that they understood what their father expected of his investments, but also that their own investment ideas would be taken into account. And not least, they wanted to make sure that they wouldn’t be arguing over the inheritance in the future. That was two years ago.
So far, so good. But what approach could Christoph König take to best manage a smooth transfer of assets? Firstly, his children and their partners were all completely different. Secondly, Christoph had always decided financial matters alone or with his wife, Cécile. But his childrens’ concerns were important to him. The future belonged to them, and he wanted to support their plans for it. That's why the couple decided a year ago to make a larger gift to Lydia and Stefan.