Estate Planning
Estate planning is the coordinated use of wills, trusts, lasting powers of attorney and lifetime gifting to manage the transfer of wealth.
Estate planning is the process of organising a client's assets, liabilities and intentions so that wealth passes efficiently to chosen beneficiaries on death or incapacity. It typically combines wills, lasting powers of attorney, trusts, insurance products, lifetime gifts and inheritance-tax (IHT) mitigation strategies.
Estate planning in UK financial services
Estate planning sits at the intersection of legal, tax and investment advice. UK estate-planning advisers usually hold an FCA-regulated permission for investment business plus a STEP qualification or solicitor-equivalent estate-planning credential. The discipline overlaps with retirement planning, IHT planning, trust planning and care-fees planning - which is why the niche has unusually high lifetime value per client.
Why estate-planning leads are expensive
Estate planning is one of the highest-intent, highest-value UK paid-media niches. The Meta CPL range typically runs GBP 35-95 and the Google search CPL range runs GBP 80-220. Costs are driven by:
- Audience scarcity - over-55s with assets above the GBP 325,000 nil-rate band.
- Long sales cycles - 60-180 days from enquiry to retained client.
- Compliance friction - financial promotions must be clear, fair and not misleading; FCA-approved before issue.
- High lifetime value - retained advice fees plus investment management fees over decades.
Estate planning vs IHT planning
Estate planning is the broad discipline. IHT planning is one tax-driven slice of it. Most UK advisers brand the broader proposition because it converts better in paid media and allows planners to introduce IHT mitigation later in the relationship.
Related terms
- IHT Planning
- Trust Planning
- Lasting Power of Attorney
- Care Fees Planning