It's inevitable. Your insurance agent, doctor and dentist are going to retire. Your financial adviser is no exception.

Does your adviser have his or her own business? In that case, expect to be provided with recommendations. Does your financial adviser work for a brokerage firm? If that's the case, a report published by Morningstar Inc., Chicago, says brace for a couple of things.

• You may be assigned a new adviser who worked with your former adviser.

• The branch office manager may assign your account to another broker in the office.

• You could get someone who bought your former adviser's book of business. The new adviser may work for the same brokerage firm or another.

Carefully evaluate your new adviser before deciding whether to accept the change. Jerry Miccolis, co-author of "Asset Allocation for Dummies," suggests asking the following questions of potential advisers:

• Have you ever been disciplined for unethical or improper conduct? Have you been sued by a client? Regardless of the response, check the adviser's history for violations or disciplinary actions with state and federal regulators as well as industry organizations. Searching is free and usually can be conducted online or via a toll-free number.

• What are your sources of income? You want objective advice, so investigate potential conflicts of interest. Is your adviser receiving income only from clients? If so, they're often members of the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors and use the designation, "fee-only." Is he or she getting paid by you as well as receiving sales commissions? In that case, they usually identify themselves as "fee-based" or "fee-plus-commission."

• How easy is it to fire you? Avoid signing contracts that require you to keep an adviser for a specific period of time. Evaluate whether you'll be charged fees for exiting. Plus, consider tax implications of moving your money.

• Who will be custodian? Be very wary of an adviser that's its own custodian, a la Bernie Madoff. Seek an established third-party custodian.

• What are your qualifications and training? Only a handful of more than 100 financial designations, which sound so impressive, mean very much. Top credentials are a CPA (particularly CPA/PFS) for income-tax and estate-tax work, CFP for financial planning and CFA for investment management.

• What services can you offer me? Some companies provide limited services; others cover the full gamut of planning, taxes and investing. A full-service firm isn't necessarily better than a specialist. But you need to consider whether you want to endure the hassle of dealing with different companies for different things.

• Will you personally handle my account? At a large company, you may first meet a salesperson you'll never see again. Be sure to meet everyone who will be making decisions that affect you.

• How did your clients do in the last down market? "Everyone is a genius in a bull market," Mr. Miccolis warns.

• Can you describe your investing approach? Does the company rely on ratings of one company, such as Morningstar? Or, is the approach set by a large company, which could be biased or incomplete. Determine whether the approach is sustainable over many years in all types of markets.

• Do you consider taxes when investing? Some advisers don't. But part of investing wisely is being able to keep more of what you make out of the hands of Uncle Sam.

• What do you invest in? Mutual funds, exchange traded funds, individual securities, alternatives or all of the above? Variety and flexibility may prove attractive.

• What kinds of reports will I receive, and how often? Make sure you get monthly reports from the custodian, and at least quarterly reports form the adviser, showing your holdings, transactions, tax impact, and performance.

• What is your client-to-employee ratio? For close, personal attention, stick with a company with a ratio of 25-to-1 or less.