Investing in Software for Wills and Estate Planning: 10 Tips Every Financial Planner Should Know
Financial planning is a multi-faceted profession that requires deep knowledge of various financial aspects that will play into a client’s financial health for years – and sometimes generations – to come.
From helping an individual make early-in-life basic financial decisions to advising a retiree on living trusts and health care directives, financial planning encompasses a wide range of services and responsibilities that adapt to each client’s unique needs and life stages.
One of the most important parts of a healthy financial plan at any age is the need for solid and comprehensive estate planning.
- Estate planning plays a crucial role in securing a client’s financial future, no matter what age or stage of life they are in.
- Investing in the right software enables financial planners to integrate estate planning seamlessly into their broader services.
- When selecting software, look for robust security measures to protect client data, customization options for tailored planning, and collaboration tools that facilitate communication with attorneys and other professionals.
- Tip #1: Understand Your Role in a Client’s Estate Planning
- Tip #2: Focus on Comprehensive Document Management
- Tip #3: Prioritize Security for Client Data
- Tip #4: Opt for Software with Beneficiary Management Features
- Tip #5: Seek Tools with Asset Distribution Visuals
- Tip #6: Ensure Integration with Other Financial Planning Software
- Tip #7: Look for Customization and Scenario Modeling
- Tip #8: Evaluate User-Friendliness
- Tip #9: Consider Collaboration and Communication Features
- Tip #10: Assess Long-Term Value and Scalability
- Holistiplan: Making It Easy to Plan for Now and Beyond
Estate planning is one piece of a comprehensive array of financial planning services that contribute to a client’s overall financial well-being and peace of mind.
Putting together an estate plan that can grow and reflect a person’s changing life situations will be a key piece of a strong financial plan, working hand in hand with other areas like retirement planning, investment management, tax strategies, and insurance coverage, to create a holistic approach to achieving long-term goals.
And in order to provide these types of seamless estate planning services, investing in the right software is essential.
Whether you’re assisting a young professional setting up their first will or a retiree reviewing trusts to maximize tax efficiency, having the right software can elevate your practice and improve client outcomes.
Following are 10 practical tips to help you select the best estate planning software to meet both your clients’ needs and your practice’s growing demands.
Tip #1: Understand Your Role in a Client’s Estate Planning
Before investing in estate planning software, it’s important to clarify the role that you will play in the overall estate planning process.
While financial planners don’t draft legally binding documents like a will, a trust, a living will, or a durable financial power of attorney, you can (and should) act as the professional who keeps all of these documents organized and up-to-date.
Your software should enhance your ability to manage legal documents by offering features that help you catalog, analyze, and integrate them into every client’s financial plan.
Key Consideration:
Look for software that specializes in document management and integration rather than drafting documents, which is best left to an attorney or legal counsel.
Tip #2: Focus on Comprehensive Document Management
Remember, one of the key features of robust estate software is its ability to plan for and manage multiple documents, including wills, trusts, healthcare directives, and powers of attorney.
The software you choose should make it easy to manage and organize these documents in a centralized and secure location.
This will allow you to quickly access relevant documents when discussing plans with clients or collaborating with their attorneys.
Key Considerations:
Make sure that the software you choose has centralized document storage and organization as well as cloud-based access for flexibility.
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Get Started TodayTip #3: Prioritize Security for Client Data
When dealing with sensitive client information, such as personal financial details, beneficiary lists, and asset valuations, security is paramount.
The estate planning software you choose must comply with strict data privacy regulations and offer robust security measures to protect the sensitive information contained in your client’s estate planning documents.
Key Considerations:
Choose estate planning software that prioritizes end-to-end encryption for data protection and has secure login protocols, such as two-factor authentication, to avoid data breaches.
Tip #4: Opt for Software with Beneficiary Management Features
One of the most critical aspects of estate planning is ensuring that beneficiary designations are accurate and up to date.
Software with beneficiary management tools can help you track and review this information across accounts like life insurance policies, retirement funds, and investment portfolios.
Key Considerations:
Having software that allows for a consolidated view of all beneficiary designations is ideal. You also want to find software that has features like alerts for missing or inconsistent beneficiary details and tools that allow you to record last-reviewed dates so you and your client know when each beneficiary designation was last updated.
Tip #5: Seek Tools with Asset Distribution Visuals
Clients often struggle to grasp how their assets will be distributed among beneficiaries or how changes to their financial situation might impact their estate plans.
Estate planning software with visualization tools can bridge this gap by providing clear and engaging diagrams that illustrate the cascading effects of real estate decisions, bank account balances, IRA contributions and/or distributions, and other asset changes through life’s various stages.
Key Considerations:
Good estate planning software will have an asset distribution diagram that shows how assets are divided among heirs. It will also have real-time modeling to reflect changes in asset values or scenarios, such as market fluctuations or inheritance scenarios
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Tip #6: Ensure Integration with Other Financial Planning Software
Estate planning doesn’t happen in isolation—it’s a crucial part of a person’s broader financial picture.
The software you choose should integrate seamlessly with your total financial practice management platform, allowing you to create holistic strategies that account for investments, retirement goals, and estate distribution.
Key Considerations:
Choose software that has integration capabilities with other financial planning tools, giving you a strong comprehensive suite of financial planning resources for your clients.
Tip #7: Look for Customization and Scenario Modeling
Every client’s estate planning needs are unique.
Software with different types of customization options allows you to tailor reports and recommendations to individual circumstances and change those recommendations as needed.
Not only that, but scenario modeling lets you show clients how different choices or life events could impact their estate plan.
Key Considerations:
Make sure the software you choose has the ability to model multiple estate scenarios, such as tax-efficient strategies or asset reallocations, and create models for both optimistic and challenging scenarios.
Tip #8: Evaluate User-Friendliness
The software you invest in should be easy to use for both you and your clients.
Complicated or clunky interfaces can slow down your workflow and confuse clients during consultations. Prioritize software that streamlines your process without requiring extensive training.
Key Considerations:
Good estate planning software will have intuitive interfaces for both planners and clients with easy-to-operate navigation and organization tools
Tip #9: Consider Collaboration and Communication Features
Estate planning often requires input from multiple professionals, including attorneys, accountants, and tax advisors. Collaborative software that allows the secure sharing of documents and real-time updates can enhance communication and efficiency between you, your clients, and any other parties involved.
Key Considerations:
You want to find estate planning software that has secure document-sharing capabilities and collaborative features for working with attorneys and other professionals. It’s also ideal if online estate planning tools are available, like client portals to share and gather feedback as needed.
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Start Your Free 7-Day TrialTip #10: Assess Long-Term Value and Scalability
As your practice grows, your software should grow with you.
Consider whether the platform can handle an increasing client load, offer updates to reflect new tax laws, and incorporate additional features as needed.
Investing in scalable software ensures your practice remains efficient and competitive.
Key Considerations:
The best estate planning software will incorporate regular software updates to align with changing regulations.
Holistiplan: Making It Easy to Plan for Now and Beyond
Investing in estate planning software is not just about improving your efficiency—it’s about providing better service to your clients.
The right platform empowers you to organize and manage wills and estate documents seamlessly, collaborate with legal professionals effectively, and create comprehensive plans that address your clients’ long-term goals.
This is why the right platform is Holistiplan.
At Holistiplan we’ve created a software platform for estate planning that rivals all the competition. Our system is ideal for creating a comprehensive will-based estate plan that will not only serve you and your clients well now, but well into the future.
Are you ready to see what Holistiplan has to offer?
Reach out today for a free trial and a chat with our customer service experts.
Introduce Holistiplan into your tech stack and watch your clients’ satisfaction increase and your business flourish!
