Here’s why you need to tell your financial adviser if you are terminally ill

2026-02-08 - 05:06

The first person you should tell when you have a terminal illness is your financial adviser, but although this is important for the loved ones you leave behind, almost nobody does, waiting until after the funeral. Greg Bradfield, wealth manager at Alexforbes, says most financial plans are built on hope: hope for long lives and long retirements, that children will grow up and become independent, that there will be enough time for investments to compound, businesses to mature and difficult decisions to resolve themselves gradually. However, a terminal diagnosis shatters that assumption in a single moment Bradfield says. “What once stretched across decades suddenly collapses into months, sometimes weeks. Planning designed for growth must be reshaped for transfer. Structures built for a future self must now protect the people who will be left behind. ALSO READ: How to plan for retirement through all your life stages End of life with terminal illness not a time of calm “When we imagine the end of life, we picture conversations, reconciliation and reflection with loved ones and friends. We imagine time to prepare loved ones emotionally but often people tell no one. Very few imagine the administrative consequences of death: frozen bank accounts, delayed pay-outs, outdated wills, offshore assets stuck in foreign legal processes and families searching for information.” Bradfield points out that most of this is preventable, but only if one critical conversation happens early enough: not with an attorney, an executor or with family, but with your financial adviser. “Advisers are often only informed after the funeral, when the opportunity already passed. Grief is inevitable, but financial disorder is not.” He warns that people forget how quickly time can collapse. “Every financial plan rests on the assumptions that there will be time. Time for markets to recover, to review beneficiaries, to update a will and to restructure offshore assets ‘when things settle down’. ALSO READ: How to manage your money instead of letting it manage you Terminal illness removes time to do financial planning “A terminal diagnosis removes that time. The planning horizon contracts. Long-term strategies must deliverer short-term certainty and assets intended to support the retiree now need to support a surviving spouse. Structures designed for tax efficiency over decades must now prioritise liquidity and access.” Bradfield says many people overestimate how ‘sorted’ their affairs really are. “Having a will, life cover and investments do not guarantee a smooth outcome. A terminal diagnosis is not only a medical event. It is a financial pivot point and when that is missed, the consequences fall on those left behind.” Why do the people left behind stay silent? Bradfield says the reluctance to tell a financial adviser is deeply human as they do not want pity or they want to protect their families from fear. “They might need time to process the diagnosis or believe their affairs are already in order and that there will be time to deal with the details later. “But silence is costly. A will could be outdated and beneficiaries no longer reflect reality. Retirement funds remain locked in structures that delay pay-outs. Offshore assets could have foreign probate and straightforward policies are contested. Families encounter the most difficult and emotional period of their lives without the financial certainty they need.” ALSO READ: Before spending your critical illness payout you need to draw up a plan – here’s how What can families do when a member is terminally ill? What can families do in time? Bradfield says there is a belief that meaningful financial planning is not possible once a terminal diagnosis is delivered. The opposite is often true and the remaining time can be a powerful planning window. He says an experienced adviser can simplify structures, redirect asset flows, secure liquidity, remove unnecessary delays and significantly reduce