Setting Up an Estate Planning Practice as an IFA

This is the first strategic decision you need to make, and it has practical implications for compliance, insurance, and how clients perceive you. There is no single right answer — it depends on your existing setup and your long-term goals.

Option 1: Estate planning within your existing IFA business

This is the simplest approach. You add estate planning as an additional service offered by your existing company (limited company, LLP, or sole trader).

Advantages:

• •No additional company formation costs
• •Single set of accounts and tax returns
• •Clients see one business, not two
• •Simpler administration
• •You can cross-sell seamlessly between financial advice and estate planning

Considerations:

• •Your FCA compliance officer and network (if applicable) need to know you are offering non-regulated services
• •Your terms of business letter must clearly distinguish between regulated and non-regulated services
• •Your PI insurance must cover both activities
• •Any complaints about estate planning work must not be confused with FCA-regulated complaints

Option 2: A separate entity for estate planning

Some IFAs set up a separate limited company or sole tradership for their estate planning work.

Advantages:

• •Complete separation of regulated and non-regulated work
• •Cleaner if you ever want to sell one business separately
• •Different branding can target different markets
• •Your FCA-regulated firm remains "clean" with no non-regulated activity

Considerations:

• •Additional company formation and maintenance costs (£50-£200/year)
• •Separate accounts, bank account, and tax return
• •Two sets of terms and conditions
• •Potentially confusing for clients who see two business names
• •More administration overall

Our recommendation:

For most IFAs, running estate planning within your existing business is the better starting point. It is simpler, cheaper, and clients prefer dealing with one entity. You can always separate later if the estate planning side grows large enough to justify its own structure.

The key is proper documentation: your terms of business should clearly state which services are FCA-regulated and which are not. A simple paragraph like this covers it:

"[Business Name] provides financial advice regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA number: XXXXXX). We also provide estate planning services including will writing, Lasting Powers of Attorney, and trust advice. These estate planning services are not regulated by the FCA."

Professional indemnity insurance is non-negotiable for estate planning work. As an IFA, you already have PI cover for your financial advice — but this almost certainly does not extend to will writing, LPAs, and trusts unless you specifically add it.

What your existing PI policy probably covers:

• •Investment advice
• •Pension advice
• •Mortgage advice (if you are a mortgage adviser too)
• •Protection advice (life insurance, income protection, etc.)
• •General financial planning advice

What it probably does NOT cover:

• •Will drafting
• •Lasting Power of Attorney preparation
• •Trust creation and advice
• •Probate assistance
• •Estate administration

How to get covered:

• •Option 1: Extend your existing PI policy. Contact your current PI insurer and ask them to add estate planning services to your policy. Some insurers do this for an additional premium of £200-£500/year. This is the cheapest and simplest option if your insurer offers it.
• •Option 2: Separate PI policy for estate planning. If your existing insurer cannot cover estate planning, you will need a separate policy. Specialist providers include Markel, Hiscox, and several brokers who focus on legal services PI cover. Expect to pay £300-£800/year for a sole practitioner policy with £1 million cover.
• •Option 3: Cover through a professional body. Some professional memberships include PI cover as a benefit. For example, the Society of Will Writers includes PI cover for members. This can be cost-effective if you need membership anyway.

What level of cover do you need?

• •Minimum: £1 million per claim (this is the standard for will writing and estate planning)
• •Recommended: £2 million per claim if you are working with high-net-worth clients or complex trust arrangements
• •Run-off cover: Ensure your policy includes at least 6 years of run-off cover — this protects you if a claim arises after you stop practising

Important details to check:

• •Does the policy cover wills, LPAs, AND trusts? Some policies only cover will writing.
• •Does it cover advice as well as document drafting? You need both.
• •Is there a maximum case value? Some policies exclude claims on estates above a certain value.
• •Are you covered for home visits? (Almost certainly yes, but check.)
• •Does the policy cover digital document storage and delivery?

Cost is not a barrier:

At £300-£800/year, PI insurance for estate planning costs less than a single case's revenue. If you are writing mirror wills and LPAs for a couple at £1,200, one case pays for your entire year's PI cover. This is not an overhead — it is a rounding error in the context of what you will earn.

Estate planning is not regulated by the FCA, but professional membership demonstrates credibility and gives clients confidence. As an IFA, you understand the value of professional standards — estate planning has its own equivalents.

The Society of Will Writers (SWW):

• •The most recognised professional body for will writers and estate planners in the UK
• •Membership requires demonstrating competence (training certificates accepted)
• •Members must follow a Code of Practice
• •Client complaints can be escalated to the SWW
• •Includes PI cover in some membership tiers
• •Annual fee: approximately £300-£500/year
• •Logo and branding you can use on your website and documents

The Institute of Professional Willwriters (IPW):

• •Another well-regarded professional body
• •Similar requirements and benefits to the SWW
• •Annual fee: approximately £200-£400/year
• •Consumer complaints scheme included

STEP (Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners):

• •The premium professional body for trust and estate practitioners
• •More rigorous entry requirements (examinations or extensive experience)
• •Internationally recognised
• •Gives access to high-net-worth client referrals
• •Worth pursuing once your estate planning practice is established
• •Annual fee: approximately £300-£600/year

Which should you join?

For a starting IFA estate planner, we recommend:

1. Join the SWW or IPW first — this gives you immediate credibility and consumer protection for your clients. Apply as soon as you have completed your training.

2. Consider STEP later — once you have 50+ cases under your belt and want to move into more complex estate planning (trusts, IHT planning, international estates).

Using your existing credentials:

Do not forget that your existing IFA qualifications are a significant asset in estate planning marketing:

• •Diploma in Financial Planning (or equivalent) demonstrates your financial knowledge
• •Chartered Financial Planner status is highly respected
• •Your FCA authorisation proves you meet high professional standards

Market yourself with both: "Chartered Financial Planner and Member of the Society of Will Writers" is a powerful combination that very few estate planners can match. It tells clients you understand both the financial and legal aspects of estate planning.

Continuing professional development:

Both the SWW and IPW require CPD hours, similar to the FCA. Estate planning CPD typically involves:

• •Annual updates on changes to inheritance tax, LPA rules, and trust legislation
• •Attendance at conferences or webinars
• •Studying new areas (e.g., digital assets, international estates)
• •Peer review of case files

This will feel familiar from your IFA CPD requirements — and much of the content overlaps.

As an IFA, you are used to working with professional technology — sourcing platforms, back-office systems, cashflow modelling tools. Estate planning requires its own technology stack, but it is simpler than what you are used to.

Estate planning software — WILLO:

WILLO is the core tool for your estate planning practice. It handles:

• •Client fact-finds (comprehensive questionnaires capturing all relevant information)
• •Document drafting (wills, LPAs, trusts, letters of wishes)
• •Client management (case tracking, follow-ups, pipeline)
• •Compliance records (audit trails, file notes, capacity assessments)
• •Document storage (secure, cloud-based)

As an IFA, you will appreciate WILLO's structured approach — it is similar to a back-office system but purpose-built for estate planning. The fact-find process will feel familiar, and the document generation is guided and systematic.

You learn WILLO as part of the training at Become an Estate Planner, with the software available at £150/month, so you will be proficient before you see your first client.

Additional tools you may need:

• •Accounting software: Xero or QuickBooks if you do not already have something for your IFA practice. If you are running estate planning within your existing business, your current accounting software works fine — just add new income categories for estate planning services.
• •CRM: WILLO includes client management, but if you want to track estate planning leads within your existing IFA CRM (e.g., Salesforce, Intelliflo), you can use both. Most IFAs find WILLO sufficient for estate planning client management.
• •Calendar/scheduling: Calendly or a similar tool for booking client appointments. Integrates with your existing calendar so estate planning and IFA appointments do not overlap.
• •Video conferencing: Zoom or Microsoft Teams for initial consultations (many clients appreciate a video call option before committing to a home visit).
• •Document signing: DocuSign or Adobe Sign for clients who prefer digital signing of engagement letters. Note: wills and LPAs still require wet signatures, so this is only for ancillary documents.

Hardware:

• •A laptop or tablet for client meetings (you probably already have this)
• •A portable printer for printing documents at client homes (optional but useful — HP OfficeJet Pro or similar, approximately £100-£200)
• •A scanner app on your phone (CamScanner or similar) for capturing signed documents

IHT calculation tools:

As an IFA, you may already have IHT calculation tools. WILLO includes basic estate valuation, but for complex IHT planning, you might want:

• •HMRC's own IHT calculator (free online)
• •Your existing cashflow modelling tool (many can model IHT scenarios)
• •Specialist IHT software if you plan to focus on high-net-worth estate planning

The total technology cost:

If you already have a laptop, accounting software, and a CRM, the additional cost for estate planning technology is just WILLO at £150/month. The only optional extra is a portable printer at £100-£200.

Pricing estate planning services requires a different mindset from IFA charging. You are used to percentage-based fees, hourly rates, or platform charges. Estate planning uses fixed fees — and clients strongly prefer this.

Recommended pricing structure for IFAs (2026):

Will writing:

• •Single will: £250-£400
• •Mirror wills (couple): £400-£600
• •Complex will (trusts, business assets, international elements): £500-£800

Lasting Powers of Attorney:

• •Single LPA (Health & Welfare OR Property & Financial): £250-£350
• •Pair of LPAs for one person: £400-£550
• •LPAs for a couple (4 documents): £700-£1,000

Trust documents:

• •Property protection trust (usually included in will): £0-£200 extra
• •Discretionary trust: £400-£700
• •Life interest trust: £400-£700

Packages (where the real value is):

• •Comprehensive couple's package (mirror wills + trusts + 4 LPAs): £1,400-£2,200
• •Individual comprehensive package (will + trust + 2 LPAs): £800-£1,400
• •"Financial MOT" package (will review + LPA check + beneficiary review): £150-£250

Integrating into existing client reviews:

This is your biggest advantage as an IFA. You already have annual or biennial review meetings with your clients. Adding estate planning to these reviews is natural and enormously valuable.

Add these questions to every client review:

1. "When did you last update your will?" (Most will say "never" or "years ago")

2. "Do you have Lasting Powers of Attorney in place?" (90%+ will say no)

3. "Are your life insurance policies written in trust?" (Most will say "I do not know")

4. "Is your property owned as joint tenants or tenants in common?" (Most will not know)

5. "Have your circumstances changed since we last met — marriage, divorce, grandchildren, inheritance?"

Each question opens a door to an estate planning conversation.

The annual review estate planning script:

"As part of your financial review, I always check that the protective side of your planning is up to date — wills, Powers of Attorney, and how your assets are structured. Shall we run through a quick checklist? ... [Go through questions] ... Based on what we have discussed, I think it would be worth scheduling a separate meeting to look at your estate planning in detail. I can provide wills, LPAs, and trusts as part of my practice. Shall I book that in?"

Revenue impact:

If you have 200 review clients and raise estate planning with all of them over the next 12 months:

• •60-70% will need some estate planning work (120-140 clients)
• •30-40% of those will proceed (36-56 clients)
• •Average case value: £800-£1,400
• •Additional revenue: £28,800-£78,400 per year

This is revenue from clients you are already seeing. No additional marketing cost. No new client acquisition. Just a deeper service for people who already trust you.

As an FCA-authorised adviser, you must keep your regulated and non-regulated activities properly separated. This is not as complicated as it sounds, but it does require clear documentation and processes.

What the FCA expects:

The FCA does not regulate will writing, LPAs, or trust advice (except where trusts involve FCA-regulated investments). However, the FCA does expect you to:

• •Not mislead clients about whether a service is regulated or not
• •Not use your FCA status to imply estate planning is FCA-regulated when it is not
• •Maintain clear records showing which advice is regulated and which is not
• •Have appropriate PI cover for both regulated and non-regulated services
• •Not create conflicts of interest between your regulated and non-regulated advice

Practical steps for compliance separation:

1. Terms of business: Your client agreement must clearly state which services are FCA-regulated and which are not. Add a section like: "Estate planning services including will writing, Lasting Powers of Attorney, and trust advice are provided by [Your Name/Business] and are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. These services are covered by separate professional indemnity insurance and are subject to the standards of [SWW/IPW membership]."

2. Separate engagement letters: For estate planning work, use a separate engagement letter (WILLO provides templates) that covers: services to be provided, fixed fees, cancellation rights, complaints procedure, and data protection. This should be distinct from your IFA client agreement.

3. File separation: Keep estate planning case files separate from IFA case files — either in a different folder/drawer (physical) or a different section of your filing system (digital). WILLO handles this automatically for estate planning, so you only need to ensure your IFA back-office does not contain estate planning records.

4. Complaints procedure: Estate planning complaints follow a different procedure from FCA-regulated complaints. FCA complaints go to the Financial Ombudsman Service. Estate planning complaints go to the SWW or IPW (depending on your membership) or through your own complaints procedure. Make this clear in your engagement letters.

5. Marketing materials: If your website and literature promote both IFA and estate planning services, include clear disclaimers:

• •"Financial advice is regulated by the FCA (FRN: XXXXXX)"
• •"Estate planning services (wills, LPAs, trusts) are not regulated by the FCA"

If you are part of a network:

Notify your network that you intend to offer non-regulated estate planning services. Most networks are supportive (some actively encourage it), but they need to know. Check whether your network's compliance requirements impose any additional conditions.

Common mistakes to avoid:

• •Do not recommend a trust for inheritance tax purposes (regulated investment advice) and then draft the trust document (non-regulated) without clearly separating the two recommendations in your file notes
• •Do not use FCA-authorised letterhead for estate planning correspondence — use separate or clearly marked stationery
• •Do not assume your FCA PI cover extends to estate planning — check explicitly
• •Do not log estate planning complaints through your FCA complaints process

The bottom line:

Compliance separation sounds daunting but in practice it is straightforward: separate terms, separate files, separate complaints procedure, and clear communication with clients about what is and is not FCA-regulated. The free training at Become an Estate Planner covers this in detail, with templates and examples specifically for IFAs making this transition.