10 Estate Planning Questions to Ask Your Clients

Offering estate planning services can increase the value you bring to your clients and help you scale your business more effectively. Your clients may be fully aware of the need for an estate plan, but feel reluctant to have what’s often a sensitive conversation. Drafting a list of tactful, yet insightful, estate planning questions to ask clients can help you better understand their needs, goals and concerns.

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10 Important Estate Planning Questions to Ask Clients

When you have limited time to meet with clients, you need to make every moment count. The questions you ask to start the estate planning conversation should have a clear objective. This allows you to gain the insights you need to help them shape their plans.

With that in mind, here are some of the most helpful estate planning questions to ask clients.

1. Who are the most important people in your life that you’d like to provide for financially if something were to happen to you?

To create an estate plan, you need to understand who it should benefit, both now and in the future. Your clients may have current spouses, former spouses, children, siblings, other relatives or even pets they want to provide for. This question is intended to get them thinking about how they want their assets to benefit those individuals down the line.

If the client has young children or pets, you can pose these questions:

Have you chosen someone to act as a guardian for your child?
If not, do you have someone in mind?
Who would you like to take care of your pets if you pass away?

2. Do you have a will in place?

A will is one of the most basic building blocks of an estate plan. Without one, your clients risk of intestacy. This robs them of control over how their assets are distributed after they pass away.

If your client tells you they do have a will, that can prompt these follow-up questions:

When was the last time you reviewed it?
Do the instructions you left in the will still reflect your wishes for how you’d like your property to be passed on to your heirs?
Have you acquired any new assets or property that are not accounted for in your will?
Do you need to change any designations you made for guardians of minor children or pets?
Are you still comfortable with your choice of executor?

If your client tells you they don’t have a will, you can take time to explain the benefits of drafting one. Walk them through what could happen if they pass away without a will in place, and prompt them to consider what they’d like to happen to their assets.

3. Have you chosen beneficiaries for your financial accounts and, if so, do any of those need to be updated?

Beneficiary designations are an important consideration for estate planning, and while some clients may set them and forget them, that could be problematic later.

For example, someone who names their spouse as their 401(k) beneficiary and then later divorces will need to take steps to change that election. Otherwise, their ex could walk away with their retirement savings.

Clients should understand what options they have when choosing or changing beneficiaries for any financial accounts included in their estate.

4. Do you have adequate life insurance?

Your clients may come to you with life insurance policies in place, or no coverage at all. Your job is to help them figure out what their life insurance needs are. This question prompts them to consider where life insurance fits into their overall estate plan.

If a client doesn’t have life insurance, you can ask some additional questions to gauge their needs:

What needs would you like a life insurance policy to fill for your loved ones if you were to pass away?
Would you feel more comfortable with an insurance policy that lasts your entire life, or one that ends after a set term?
Who would be the beneficiary or beneficiaries of your policy?

If the client does have life insurance, you can go over the details of the policy to assess whether the coverage they have is still appropriate for their needs.

5. Is there someone you would trust to make healthcare decisions on your behalf if you’re unable to do so?

Financial advisors reviewing estate planning questions for clients.

Healthcare is an often-overlooked aspect of estate planning, but it’s something clients need to consider. They may have specific wishes about the kind of care they would or wouldn’t like to receive in a critical medical situation. However, without an advance healthcare directive, those wishes may go unheard.

6. Do you have assets that you would like to avoid probate?

A will can allow clients to state how they’d like their assets to be divided,. However, it won’t let them escape probate. That’s something a trust could do for them, though whether every client needs a trust depends on the specifics of their financial situation.

If they’re unsure how it works, you can offer your client an overview of probate. Then discuss how a trust allows them to avoid it. You can also explain the initial and ongoing costs of establishing and maintaining a trust, and the need to choose one or more reliable trustees to manage it.

7. Have you acquired any property in states or countries other than the one you live in?

Owning property in other states or outside the U.S. could have legal and financial implications for your client’s estate once they pass away.

For example, say a client lives in New York, but owns a rental property in Florida or a vacation home in Greece. In that case, you may need to account for that in their plan. And potentially coordinate with an estate planning attorney in those jurisdictions to ensure their estate plan allows for a smooth transfer of that property to their heirs.

8. Are you interested in creating a legacy of charitable giving with part of your estate?

Donating to charity is emotionally rewarding, and it also has the potential to yield some tax benefits. Those benefits may be enjoyed during a client’s lifetime and carry over to their heirs later on.

Talk to your clients about what part of their estate, if any, they may be interested in committing to supporting worthy causes. You can share details about various giving vehicles, such as donor-advised funds and charitable trusts, and how those may help them further their giving goals.

9. Do you have a continuity or succession plan in place? (For clients who own businesses)

For clients who run businesses, estate planning isn’t just personal. One of the most significant estate planning questions for these clients centers on what will happen to the business if they pass away or decide to step away.

That’s where a succession plan becomes crucial for ensuring the business continues to thrive, even when your client is no longer present. Talk to your clients about who they want to take over, and how key person insurance can fit into the equation.

You may also touch on continuity planning. Continuity plans ensure the business can operate under exceptional circumstances. If the client’s business premises are destroyed by a natural disaster, for instance, a continuity plan could enable them to serve clients through the crisis.

10. What questions do you have for me about estate planning?

A financial advisor evaluating estate planning options for a client.

Many of the estate planning questions you ask clients only require a yes or no answer. You’ll need to do some prompting to gather more information.

This question is open-ended and encourages the client to think about what they need or expect from the estate planning process. That can help you keep them engaged so the estate planning discussion doesn’t fall flat.

Bottom Line

Estate planning may feel like an overwhelming subject for clients. However, it’s to their advantage to discuss it with you early and often. The questions shared here are designed to help you kickstart the conversation and drill down to what your clients need most to build an effective estate plan.

Tips for Growing Your Advisory Business

Building a successful practice takes time and investing in building a digital presence can help you move forward with your goals. Partnering with an advisor marketing platform can help you increase your online footprint and connect with your ideal clients. SmartAsset AMP (Advisor Marketing Platform) is a holistic marketing service that financial advisors can use for client lead generation and automated marketing. Sign up for a free demo to explore how SmartAsset AMP can help you expand your practice’s marketing operation. Get started today.
If you’re developing estate planning services as a new offering, tapping into your network could help you attract more clients. For example, if you know an estate planning attorney in your local area, they could be a significant source of referrals for your business. If you’ve neglected networking thus far, consider how you can work on building those connections.