Estate Planning as a Career for Parents

Estate planning has become popular with parents seeking work that fits around family. For the complete career overview, see our guide on How to Become an Estate Planner UK. For part-time specifics, see our Part-Time Estate Planning Guide:

The flexibility reality:

• •You choose your working hours
• •No boss requiring office presence
• •Work from home base
• •Scale up or down with life stage

School-hours working is possible:

• •Train while children at school
• •See clients during school hours
• •Handle admin in snatched moments
• •No after-school club dependency

School holidays flexibility:

• •Work less during holidays
• •No complex annual leave negotiations
• •Take whole weeks off when needed
• •Children aren't "problems" to manage

What parents say:

"I do school drop-off and pickup every day - couldn't do that employed."

"I work during school hours and stop when they're home."

"Summer holidays I work 2-3 hours a day maximum."

"I earn good money without sacrificing time with my kids."

The trade-off: Flexibility means variable income. You need to be comfortable with self-employment uncertainty.

What can you earn while working parent-friendly hours? For detailed earnings data, see our Estate Planner Salary Guide.

School hours only (9:30am-2:30pm, term time):

• •Working hours: ~20 hours/week, 38 weeks/year
• •Total: ~760 hours/year
• •Clients per month (term): 3-5
• •Monthly income (term): £1,200-2,500
• •Annual: £12,000-25,000

School hours plus some evenings:

• •Adding 2 evenings per week
• •Clients per month: 4-7
• •Monthly income: £1,600-3,500
• •Annual: £18,000-35,000

Part-time with holiday working:

• •Working school hours plus some holiday time
• •More consistent income flow
• •Annual: £20,000-40,000

The maths:

• •4 clients/month × £400 average = £1,600/month
• •× 11 months (some time off) = £17,600/year
• •After expenses: ~£14,000-15,000

This is realistic for school-hours-only working. Many parents find this worthwhile for the flexibility provided.

Training fits around family life more easily than many careers:

Our training approach:

• •20 hours of core curriculum
• •Self-paced options available
• •No required classroom attendance
• •Study when children at school or asleep
• •Typical completion: 4-8 weeks

Training schedule examples:

Stay-at-home parent:

• •2 hours/day during school
• •5 days/week = 10 hours
• •Complete core in 2-3 weeks

Working parent transitioning:

• •1 hour/day weekday evenings
• •3 hours weekend
• •8 hours/week = 3-4 weeks

Parent with baby:

• •During naps and evenings
• •More variable schedule
• •6-8 weeks typical

Tips for training with children:

• •Treat training time as non-negotiable
• •Use childcare you already have
• •Evening hours after bedtime
• •Weekend mornings (partner takes kids)
• •Shorter focused sessions beat long interrupted ones

Structuring your estate planning work around school:

Client meeting options:

• •Home visits during school hours
• •Video calls from home
• •Evening appointments occasionally
• •Weekend options for keen clients

Typical week (school hours):

Monday:

• •9:30am: Admin, emails, calls
• •11:00am: Client home visit
• •1:30pm: Document drafting

Tuesday:

• •9:30am: Marketing/networking
• •11:00am: Client video call
• •1:30pm: Follow-up work

Wednesday:

• •Morning: No work (life admin/self care)
• •Afternoon: Planning and prep

Thursday:

• •9:30am: Client home visit
• •12:00pm: Lunch meeting with referrer

Friday:

• •9:30am: Document completion
• •11:00am: Calls and admin
• •1:00pm: Week review and planning

This schedule = ~20 hours/week, 3-4 clients

School holiday adjustments:

• •Reduce to essential work only
• •Early morning before kids wake
• •During activities/playdates
• •Partner childcare if available
• •Accept lower income some months