Digital Estate Planning: A New Frontier for RIAs

Estate planning, which involves the disposition of client assets to a subsequent generation, or generations through a will or trust, is complex: It involves steps such as drafting, transmitting, and authenticating documents—which assumes storage, notarization, and other support functions. In the past, the complexity of the process and the need for airtight documentation have prompted the call for a handoff from the advisor to an attorney and/or tax advisor. But advisors are increasingly unwilling to abdicate revenue and relationship capital to third-party providers. Attorney review and legal complexity have been barriers to adoption for registered investment advisors and certified financial planners. However, those walls are falling, in particular for last wills and probate-avoidance revocable trusts. 

The digitization of the estate planning process provides a path forward, addressing several business challenges that include cost and scalability, problems that have long hampered financial planners. It also creates a greater differentiation of advisory products and services. A streamlined digital estate planning platform delivered as a hybrid advisor-client experience provides a unique opportunity for advisors to expand their service model, amplify relationship alpha, power retention, and create advisory pathways to the next generation of clients. 

Key questions discussed in this report:

• Why is it important for advisors to consider the addition of estate planning? 
• What are the key digital estate planning solutions for advisors? 
• How do digital estate planning solutions function and scale?

Companies Mentioned:

Addepar, Brentmark, CircleBlack, Corvee, Docupace, eMoney, EncorEstate Plans, Envestnet MoneyGuide, Everplans, Finicity, FP Alpha, Holistiplan, Intuit TurboTax, Morningstar, Nitrogen, NumberCruncher, OneDigitalTrust, Precise FP, RightCapital, SS&C Black Diamond, StratiFi, Tax Status, Tolerisk, Trust & Will, Vanguard, Vanilla, Wealth.com, Yourefolio