Why does just leaving my kids money cause more problems than it solves?

Because options without direction usually produce confusion and entitlement, not freedom. Kris Kluver, in The Dysfunctional Family Office, frames this directly. You created the wealth to create options for your kids. But options and safety without clarity of intention almost always produce entitlement and confusion. The kid has the means to pursue almost anything and no clear sense of why or toward what. Most heirs in this situation drift, overperform compulsively, or check out entirely. The fix isn't to take the wealth away. It's to add what was missing. Explicit clarity about what the wealth is for, what it isn't for, what values you hope they carry, and how you want them to make decisions about it.