Spotting estate planning needs is a Consumer Duty obligation

Most advisers think of estate planning as adjacent to their role: important for the client, but somebody else's specialism. Consumer Duty has quietly changed that. Under PRIN 2A.2.8R, firms must take proactive steps to avoid foreseeable harm to retail customers - and an unaddressed estate planning gap is exactly that.

The three-link argument

First: leaving an obvious estate planning gap unaddressed - no Will, a Will not reviewed in years, no LPA - is a foreseeable harm, which brings it inside the Duty. Second: once the need is identified, the safe response is a referral to someone whose suitability can be evidenced - qualified, with a documented process. Third: the obligation is discharged by asking, logging and recording. Not by becoming an estate planner.

The three questions

The practical embed is three questions at onboarding and every annual review: Does the client have a Will? Has it been reviewed in the last five years, or since a major life event? Do they have an LPA? Ask them, record the answers, act on the gaps. That is the whole process control.

Why the referral partner matters

Will-writing is unregulated, so the comfort regulated firms take from each other does not extend to a Will-writing referral. The quality of the partner is an assessable element of your own conduct - which is why "someone qualified, with a documented process" is not a nice-to-have but the standard itself.

Key takeaways

• An unaddressed estate planning gap is foreseeable harm under Consumer Duty
• Three questions, asked and recorded, discharge the obligation
• The referral partner's suitability is part of your own conduct

The Kinherit Academy covers this framework across eight complimentary, CPD-credited sessions. Enrol at kinherit.co.uk/academy.