Not every relationship between a financial advisor and a client is a match made in heaven.

Sometimes it is just not a good fit. Advisors, for example may discover that a client takes more of their time than the fee they are paying is worth, said Brian A. Carlis, a lawyer who is a member of the securities arbitration group at Lawrenceville, N.J.-based Stark & Stark.

Carlis recommends that advisors periodically rank clients on a scale—such as A,B,C or D—and shed those in the lowest rank, diplomatically but firmly. It is important to “get rid of the deadwood,” he said.

Financial advisors who charge an hourly rate can usually avoid spending an inordinate amount of time with client handholding, said Glenda Moehlenpah, a financial planner and accountant who started Financial Bridges in Poway, Calif., a San Diego suburb, in 2002.

But even Moehlenpah, who charges $240 an hour, has had to jettison clients occasionally. She said she has parted company with 10 out of 350 clients since she opened her own shop. She just sent out three letters parting company with three more.

“Generally, I take the fall and say, I don’t think we are a good fit or that their circumstances have changed,” Moehlenpah said.

When she divorces a client, she gives them their file so the transition to a new planner will be smooth.  That is also a good way to avoid further contact, she said.

Clients who keeps changing his or her mind about what they want are often candidates for a firing, Moehlenpah said. Such waffling causes too much wasted effort, she said.

When Moehlenpah parts company, she does not recommend another advisor. She does not want to give a colleague someone who might be problematical.

Chery Krueger, a financial planner and owner of Growing Fortunes Financial Partners LLC, with offices in Schaumburg, Ill., Chicago and Phoenix, said she has only let go of one client since she went on her own seven years ago. Krueger charges $180 an hour for her services.