Is it preferrable to say,
“Joe has some wealthy relatives who will leave him a bunch of money.”
or
“Joe has some wealthy relations who will leave him a bunch of money.”
I suppose both could be correct. I honestly don’t know. My preference would be to say, “I have some wealthy relatives who will leave **me **a bunch of money.”
That was just a small joke. I am serious about wanting to know which usage is preferable.
Both are correct, but I’d lean to the “relatives” version. because “relations” could have other possible meanings, at least on first reading.
I’ve never heard ‘relations’ used that way. I thought the word was made up by granny in the Nutty Professor remakes (hot, lovely relations).
“Relations” reminds me of Clinton. Pretty sure that’s not the meaning the sentence is aiming for. 
Really? :dubious: I have, frequently. Giles is right. Both are perfectly correct, but, apparently, “relations” may be misunderstood by some English speakers. (Possibly “relations” in this sense is more common in British than American English. Anyway, it is the word I grew up using. “Relatives” seems a little formal and slightly pompous to me.)
“Relations” to mean “relatives” is a regional/cultural (and not proper, IMHO) bit of slang.
Proper English is “Relatives”