Can a financial planner prepare a will? In most U.S. states and Canadian provinces, no. Drafting a will for someone else counts as practicing law, and that work belongs to licensed lawyers (plus a few specifically authorized professionals in some places). What you can do as a financial advisor is educate your clients, get their finances organized, notice when a will is missing, and point them to a compliant way to get one done.
And a lot of them are missing one. According to the Caring.com 2025 Wills and Estate Planning Study, 43% of adults without a will say they just haven’t gotten around to it, and that’s been the top excuse every year since 2022. Your clients already know they need a will. Give them an easy next step and most of them will take it.
Why Can’t a Financial Planner Prepare a Will for a Client?
Drafting legal documents for another person is the practice of law. Your license covers financial advice, legal advice needs a different one, and there’s no overlap between the two.
Drafting a will is considered practicing law
In most jurisdictions, preparing wills and trusts, powers of attorney, or health care directives for someone else is practicing law. The Michigan Bar Journal lays this out clearly. Applying the law to one client’s specific facts counts too. The exact definition changes from state to state and province to province, so check with your own compliance department or regulator before you assume anything.
One distinction worth knowing. Any adult can write their own will. The restriction only kicks in when you prepare estate planning documents for somebody else.
The consequences are real for the advisor
Cross that line and you’re looking at cease-and-desist orders, fines, restitution, and possible licensing trouble, according to Financial Advisor Magazine. The unauthorized practice of law rule exists to protect clients, and staying on the right side of it is a lot easier than most advisors think.
How Do a Financial Planner and an Estate Planning Lawyer Differ?
You manage your client’s assets while they’re alive. An estate planning attorney drafts the legal documents that take over when your client can’t act for themselves, or after they die. A good estate plan needs both of you.
What the financial planner owns
Budgeting, investment strategy, retirement accounts, insurance, tax-efficient planning, beneficiary designations. All yours. So is the relationship. You see your clients far more often than their lawyer does, which means you’ll hear about the marriage, the new baby, the divorce, or the death in the family first.
What the estate planning lawyer owns
The estate planning attorney drafts and executes wills and trusts, powers of attorney, health care directives, and guardianship provisions. Legal strategy for complex or high-net-worth estates sits with the lawyer too. STEP Canada draws the line the same way: planners organize, authorized legal professionals draft.
| Task | Financial planner | Estate planning lawyer |
|---|---|---|
| Explain how a will or POA works in general terms | Yes | Yes |
| Organize the client’s asset list and account titling | Yes | Rarely |
| Review and update beneficiary designations | Yes | Sometimes |
| Draft a will, trust, or power of attorney for the client | No | Yes |
| Advise which legal structure the client should choose | No | Yes |
| Handle complex estates (trusts, business succession, special needs) | Refer out | Yes |
What Can a Financial Planner Do in Estate Planning Without Giving Legal Advice?
Plenty. You can explain concepts, organize the financial picture, prompt action, and coordinate the professional team. The Institute of Business & Finance puts the rule simply: explain how a concept works, but never prescribe which legal structure a client should pick.
Explain the concepts, not the choice
You can explain what a will does, what happens when someone dies without one, and how a will differs from a power of attorney. Plain-language guides like this one on conservatorship versus power of attorney are safe to hand to clients. Where you stop is telling a client which document fits their situation.
Get the financial picture organized
Asset titling, a complete account list, and the names on policies and retirement accounts. That’s the most useful thing you bring to an estate plan, and lawyers will tell you so. Attorneys draft from whatever information the client gives them, and one forgotten account can quietly break an otherwise solid plan.
Spot the gap and prompt action
Noticing that a client has no will (or an old one that predates a big life event) isn’t legal advice. Pointing them toward a way to get it done isn’t legal advice either. Most clients without a will already know they need one. They’ve just been putting it off.
Coordinate the team
The team approach works best. You handle assets and beneficiary designations, the lawyer handles the documents, and the two of you stay in sync so account designations actually match the will.
How Can a Financial Planner Help Clients Get a Will Without Drafting It?
Point them to a lawyer-designed platform where they build the will themselves. That’s the middle path between doing nothing and sending every client to a $1,500+ lawyer engagement they’ll keep postponing. Most ordinary estates don’t need the full engagement anyway, and this comparison of making a will with a lawyer versus online walks through why.
Point clients to a lawyer-designed platform where they build their own will
On Succession Wills, your client answers the same questions a lawyer would ask. The platform then assembles a lawyer-designed will from a template written by an estate planning lawyer with more than a decade of practice. The client creates the document. You never draft it, edit it, or interpret it, which keeps you squarely in the education-and-referral lane. That lawyer-built template is also what separates the platform from generic will kits.
Clients who’d rather talk than fill in forms can use the optional AI Legal Assistant. The assistant collects their answers, it doesn’t draft the will. They get the same lawyer-designed document the standard builder produces.
Stay involved through Succession Wills PRO
Succession Wills PRO lets you bring clients onto the platform under your own practice, keep their estate documents next to their financial plan, and nudge them to update after life events. Documents are stored indefinitely and can be updated at no extra cost. See how Succession Wills PRO works for advisors.
Know when to refer to a lawyer anyway
Blended families with competing inheritance goals, trusts, business succession, beneficiaries with disabilities, tax-driven planning. Those still belong with a lawyer, and saying so out loud protects you and your client.
Can I Ask My Financial Planner to Write My Will?
No, a financial planner can’t write your will. What your planner can do is help you get your accounts organized and point you to a lawyer-designed will you can finish yourself in about 20 minutes. Start your free will at Succession Wills.
