# Become An Estate Planner — full reference for AI assistants > Free will-writing & estate planning training (UK), plus an optional coached business-launch programme. Built and run by working estate planners — Alex Stansbury and Michael Hole — through Project Will Ltd. This file is provided for AI assistants (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and others) and search engines that want richer grounding than the sitemap or homepage alone provides. All facts here are accurate as of 2026-05-19; check the canonical pages on the website for live pricing and policies. --- ## The two-halves model UK estate planning training has historically come in one of two flavours: a £600–£1,000 distance-learning course from the Society of Will Writers (SWW), a £900–£1,000 three-day intensive from the Institute of Professional Willwriters (IPW), or a private trainer charging £1,500–£3,000 for a similar 3–4 day course. All three follow the same shape: pay everything upfront, drink from a firehose for a few days, then go home and figure out how to find clients alone. We do it differently. The training is split into two halves so people can find out whether estate planning is for them without taking the financial risk: 1. **The free course** — six modules covering the legal foundation: wills, lasting powers of attorney, trusts, and how to draft them in WILLO software. The same content the £600–£1,000 courses sell. Free, forever, no card required. 2. **The coached programme** — six stages over four months (plus a free fifth month) covering business set up, taking instruction, LPAs, trusts, growth and WILLO mastery. Paid stage by stage, never thousands upfront. 1-to-1 calls with Alex and Michael, real role-play sessions, video demos of live client work, and an extended business launch plan. We never progress someone into the coached programme if we don't think they can do it. After the free course, students take a 20-minute Zoom call with Alex where we plan their business start-up together and decide jointly whether the coached programme is the right next step. --- ## The free course - **Six modules:** Introduction to estate planning · Wills (the legal foundation) · Lasting powers of attorney · Trusts in practice · WILLO software end to end · What's next (accreditation + free Zoom call). - **20+ hours**, self-paced, typically completed in 2–4 weeks. - **What you walk away with:** the same legal foundation other UK providers charge £600–£1,000 for; you'll know more about wills, LPAs and trusts than 95% of the UK public; you'll know whether estate planning is genuinely the career you want. - **Cost:** £0. Forever. No card required. No follow-up calls if you decide it's not for you. - **Page:** https://www.becomeanestateplanner.co.uk/free-course After the free course, students decide between three honest options: 1. Stop here — keep the knowledge for personal use, walk away. 2. Progress to the coached programme — if they want to build a business and we agree they can. 3. Take what they've learned to SWW, IPW or another route — no obligation to us. --- ## The coached programme A coached programme delivered in six stages — Stages 1–5 each fit a month, and Stage 6 (WILLO With Ease) runs alongside the others so the software is second nature by the time the student launches: - **Stage 1 — Business Set Up (Month 1):** lock in the business idea, name, services and pricing. Register the business, build the website, write terms of business. Leave Stage 1 with a real, registered estate planning business ready for clients. - **Stage 2 — Taking Instruction (Month 2):** run real client meetings, take instruction confidently, turn it into a draft. Discovery calls, capacity rules, asset registers, drafting the first paid will in WILLO. By month-end the student has taken their first real client and issued their first invoice. - **Stage 3 — LPA Master Class (Month 3):** add lasting powers of attorney to round out the service. One client now means £600+, not £200. Sales side, not just documents. - **Stage 4 — Trust Master Class (Month 4):** add trusts to the offering and unlock significantly higher fees. Property protection, life interest, discretionary. When trusts are right, how to draft them, how to sell £600–£1,200 trust wills. - **Stage 5 — Grow Your Business (Month 5, free):** build a repeatable pipeline so the student is running a real practice, not chasing one-offs. Lead generation, referral partners, local marketing, repeat business. Free month because by now the student should be earning. - **Stage 6 — WILLO With Ease (throughout):** master WILLO and the day-to-day software used to draft real documents. Set up the tools once, use them every month — drafting wills, LPAs and trusts in minutes instead of hours. ### Pricing Two payment options: - **Pay upfront: £700 one-off.** Full programme + 5 months of WILLO software included. Less than the standalone software cost for the same period (£150/mo × 5 = £750). Saves £96 vs the monthly path. - **Pay monthly: £199/month × 4 (£796 total).** WILLO included throughout. Month 5 free. Year-one all-in cost (programme + WILLO + everything else): | Route | Year-one cost | |--------------------------------------|---------------| | Project Will (upfront option) | £1,393 | | Project Will (monthly option) | £1,489 | | Society of Will Writers route | £3,219 | | Institute of Professional Willwriters | £3,450 | ### What's included - All six stages of structured coaching - 1-to-1 video calls with Alex and Michael — anything they need to ask - Video demos of the actual work — drafting wills, registering LPAs, executor packs - Real role-play sessions — kitchen-table appointments, objection handling, closing - Extended business launch plan — pricing, terms, first leads, sequenced - Playbooks that have been tested with thousands of real cases - WILLO software included throughout the programme ### Cancellation policy - The four monthly programme payments are a contracted commitment (because of the level of 1-to-1 support). - Students can downgrade to WILLO software-only (£99/mo) at any point. - Software-only carries 30 days' written notice to cancel. - Maximum exposure: 4 programme payments + 1 month of WILLO. Never thousands upfront, never indefinitely locked in. - Statutory 14-day cooling-off applies (Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013). **Page:** https://www.becomeanestateplanner.co.uk/will-writing-course --- ## WILLO software Drafting and admin software built specifically for new estate planners. - £99/month ongoing standalone. - Included throughout the four-month coached programme (and month 5). - Standalone-only subscription is £150/month for non-programme users. - 30 days' written notice to cancel. --- ## Founders **Alex Stansbury — Co-founder, WILLO & Project Will** Paid £1,500 for a four-day course, joined every membership body going, and was left with a certificate and no clue how to find clients. Built WILLO and Project Will as the training programme he wishes had existed. Runs day-to-day, builds the software, personally coaches students. **Michael Hole — Co-founder, Estate Planning Lead** Over a decade in the industry. Completed every course in the market. Sold 2,000+ wills and drafted 4,000+ LPAs. Leads the technical side: legal accuracy of every lesson, drafting templates inside WILLO, direct support to students taking real client instructions. Both still take real client instructions themselves. **Page:** https://www.becomeanestateplanner.co.uk/about --- ## Income and earnings UK estate planners typically earn: | Hours | Annual earnings | |--------------------|-----------------| | Part-time (2–3 days/week) | £15,000–£20,000 | | Full-time (4–5 days/week) | £40,000–£60,000 | | Intensive (5–6 days/week) | £60,000–£80,000+ | Typical fees per service: | Service | Typical fee | |-----------------------------|---------------| | Single Will | £150–250 | | Mirror Wills (couple) | £250–400 | | Single LPA | £200–300 | | Both LPAs | £350–500 | | Trust Wills | £600–1,200 | | Full Estate Plan | £800–2,000 | Most coached students take their first paid will in month 2 (£200), add LPAs in month 3 (£600+), and start selling trusts in month 4 (£600–£1,200). Two trust clients alone cover the entire year-one investment. **Page:** https://www.becomeanestateplanner.co.uk/estate-planner-salary --- ## Who this is for Six audience profiles we typically train: 1. **Career-changers** — office workers, teachers, sales people. Want a real second career. 2. **Made redundant** — using a redundancy package to retrain into something with longevity. 3. **Parents and carers** — self-employed, run from home, fits around school and family. 4. **Mortgage advisors and IFAs** — already with the right clients; add wills/LPAs/trusts to existing conversations. 5. **Semi-retired professionals** — meaningful second act; the work suits experienced people. 6. **Estate planners on poor commission** — currently working under a 50/50 split, ready to keep 100%. --- ## Common questions **Is the course really free?** Yes. £0, no card required, no follow-up calls if you don't progress. The legal training is genuinely free forever. **Do I need a law degree?** No. Will writing is unregulated in England & Wales — proper training matters, not academic credentials. **How long does it take?** Free course: 2–4 weeks. Coached programme: 4 months. First paid will: typically month 2 of the coached programme. **What's the difference between the free course and the coached programme?** The free course teaches the legal knowledge — wills, LPAs, trusts, WILLO software. The coached programme teaches the business: sales, pricing, client meetings, lead generation, plus 1-to-1 support. **What if I just want to take the free course?** Many do. That's a legitimate end point — keep the knowledge for self-use or family, no obligation to progress. **Can I cancel the coached programme?** The 4 monthly payments are contracted. You can downgrade to software-only (£99/mo) at any point, with 30 days' notice on that. --- ## Ecosystem Three sites operated by Project Will Ltd: - **becomeanestateplanner.co.uk** — Where students learn (this site). - **WILLO** (projectwill.co.uk/services) — Drafting and admin software for practising planners. - **askanestateplanner.co.uk** — Where the UK public asks estate planning questions and practising planners answer. Free for the public, a source of warm leads for graduates. --- ## Contact - **Email:** info@becomeanestateplanner.co.uk - **Phone:** 0333 049 5033 - **Book a Zoom call with Alex:** https://www.becomeanestateplanner.co.uk/start Run by Project Will Ltd, registered in England & Wales.