There are 17 million wills waiting to be written

Published on 2nd December 2025

For the financial planning community, clients’ wills are the most obvious referrals that need to be made to legal colleagues, lasting powers of attorney (LPAs) aside.

For both, financial planning firms need trusted solicitors who understand that both tools, whilst vital on their own, also underpin financial planning.

However, in the same way that a solicitor telling a client they need complementary financial planning is not a true referral, neither is a financial planner suggesting a will is important and a client should have one.

National Will Report 2025

Against this backdrop, I was interested, disappointed and simultaneously encouraged to read some of the insights in this year’s National Will Report. The survey of 2,000 adults found, not surprisingly, that adoption in younger adults is much lower than in older adults.

Just one in five 18-24 years olds have a will in place, rising to around a third of those in the next stree age categories, up to 45-54 year-olds. It was not a surprise that 56% of those over the age of 55 have a will in place but 32% for those aged 45-54 seemed shockingly low.

However, even more alarming still, is the fact that the main reason cited was a lack of apparent awareness as to how to arrange a will. Indeed, 25% of those surveyed claimed that they would not know how to go about doing it.

As a professional community, we seem to be failing collectively to get across the message of how important a will is. There was a suggestion, however, that campaigns to urge charitable legacies are beginning to help.

In better news

However, it was not all unwelcome news, as other findings give cause for optimism and in my view offer the financial planning and solicitor communities the opportunity to collaborate.

There were very positive findings in the survey around discussing death and estate planning within families, often considered taboo in the past and a significant barrier to wills and wider estate planning.

This year, 79% of those asked suggested they were now comfortable talking about death and its implications, an eight percentage point increase on 2024.

17 million wills to write

Accepting that the results may well be skewed, given those surveyed were being asked about wills, 34% of respondents suggested they now planned to sort out their will in the coming year. This translates, on a pro rata basis, to 17 million adults ready and willing to arrange their will in the next 12 months.

Time to collaborate

In my world, underpinning financial and estate planning with wills and LPAs is hugely important, and financial planning firms need legal partners they trust and respect to refer their valuable clients to.

Furthermore, the National Will Report findings strongly indicate that the financial planning community can assist solicitors in creating a greater awareness. Even it is not 17 million people poised to act, financial planners should be an important source of new will clients for you and your firm.

Equally, it is not all plain sailing for the financial planning sector, with a recent Lang Cat Advice Gap Report 2025, suggesting that only 9% of adults have taken financial advice in the last two years.

The report cites cost, trust and accessibility as the major barriers, so it will be important for law firms to assist their carefully selected financial planning partners and reciprocate by genuinely referring clients the other way.

With the research indicating that clients are more willing than ever to discuss what happens to their assets when they die, surely now is the time for our two professional communities to pool our knowledge to advise clients truly holistically.

By combining the legal tools available to you, with the financial and investment vehicles the financial planning community has at its disposal, together we can help mutual clients plan for a more tax-efficient transfer of wealth to the next generation.

In 2025, more than ever it appears, it must be time for professional collaboration to create a greater awareness of the benefits that combined legal and financial planning can offer, to achieve far better estate planning outcomes.