12 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. According to Trust & Will’s 2026 Financial Advisor Report, 61% of Americans say advisors should include estate planning in their services, with 37% calling it “essential” to a comprehensive financial plan. 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.¹

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12 Estate Planning Questions to Ask Your Clients

1. What Is Your Primary Estate Planning Goal?
2. Who Would You Want to Provide For?
3. Do You Have a Will?
4. Do You Have an Executor in Mind?
5. Do Any of Your Beneficiary Designations Need Updating?
6. Do You Have Adequate Life Insurance?
7. Who Would Make Healthcare Decisions for You?
8. Do You Have Assets That You Would Like to Avoid Probate?
9. Do You Own Property in Other States or Countries?
10. Do You Want to Include Charitable Giving in Your Estate Plan?
11. Do You Have a Business Continuity or Succession Plan?
12. What Questions Do You Have for Me About Estate Planning?

1. What Is Your Primary Estate Planning Goal?

Developing an estate plan requires an understanding of your clients’ purpose and goals. This question can set the tone for the rest of the conversation and provide valuable insight into what your clients want their estate plan to do for them.

Once your client identifies their primary goal or goals, you can work together to evaluate how realistic they are and the steps required to achieve them. You can then develop an actionable plan for pursuing each goal and identify the metrics you want to use to track their progress.

If you use an estate planning intake form template, you may include this question here, along with a space for clients to share their thoughts.

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2. Who Would You Want to Provide For?

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?

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3. Do Dou Have a Will?

A will is one of the most basic building blocks of an estate plan. Without one, your clients risk dying intestate. 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.

4. Do You Have an Executor in Mind?

Naming an executor is a critical part of the estate planning process, and you may be called on to work with this individual to settle your client’s estate once they pass away. Ask your clients who they’d like to serve as executor of their estate, and if they have a backup person or persons in mind.

Review the executor’s role in the estate planning process with your clients, and their role as a fiduciary. If they ask whether you can be their executor, explain how that could create a conflict of interest and why they should choose another person they trust to settle their estate in accordance with the terms of their will.

5. Do Any of Your Beneficiary Designations Need Updating?

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.

6. 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?

You may then recommend policies to purchase, if you hold a life insurance license. If the client already has life insurance, you can go over the details of the policy to assess whether the coverage they have is still appropriate for their needs.

7. Who Would Make Healthcare Decisions for You?

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 proper documentation, those wishes may go unheard.

Talk to your clients about who they might trust to make medical decisions on their behalf if they’re incapacitated or facing a terminal illness. Then walk them through the differences between different care documents, including a living will vs. power of attorney vs. advance directive.

8. 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.

9. Do You Own Property in Other States or Countries?

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. Consider coordinating with your client’s estate planning attorney to ensure their estate plan allows for a smooth transfer of that property to their heirs. Forming centers of influence with attorneys and other individuals connected to the financial services industry has an additional benefit: you may gain more referrals through these relationships.

10. Do You Want to Include Charitable Giving in Your Estate Plan?

Donating to charity can be 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.

11. Do You Have a Business Continuity or Succession Plan?

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 can help support the continued operation of the business, 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 establish procedures for maintaining business operations during unexpected disruptions. 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.

12. What Questions Do You Have for Me About Estate Planning?

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.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

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 identify what your clients need most from their estate plans.

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.

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