Why Clients Do Not Commit to Estate Planning

After five years working with advisers, accountants and lawyers across hundreds of practices, one pattern stands out. Every practice has a group of clients who avoid estate planning. They delay. They postpone. They never commit.

The reasons are usually the same.

1. My affairs are simple.

2. I do not want to meet a lawyer. It is too expensive.

3. I already have a Post Office or online Will.

4. It is too complicated.

Here is the reality behind each one.

1. “My affairs are simple”

This statement is rarely true.

If a client dies without a valid Will, the rules of intestacy apply. In most states, this means:

• The partner and children share the estate according to a formula

• Stepchildren are excluded

• Superannuation is not covered

• Control of trusts, companies and SMSFs is decided by default rules, not the client.

The process becomes slower, more expensive and often ends in conflict. What starts as “simple” becomes anything but.

2. “I do not want to meet a lawyer. It is too expensive”

Clients often compare the upfront cost to doing nothing. The real comparison is the cost their beneficiaries will pay later.

A properly drafted plan may cost $2,000-$ 3,000 today. A dispute caused by a poor or missing plan can easily cost $50,000  or more in legal fees. Some family provision claims run into hundreds of thousands.

Clear instructions now avoid heavy costs and stress for the next generation.

3. “I have a Post Office Will”

Most retail and online Wills deal only with estate assets. They do not deal with:

• Superannuation

• SMSF succession

• Family trusts

• Companies and director control

• Guardianship

• Binding nominations

• Blended family arrangements

For some people, a simple Will is appropriate. For many, it fails to cover the structures they rely on every day.

4. “It is too complicated”

Estate planning feels complicated because the data is scattered. Every adviser, accountant and lawyer has some of the picture. The client becomes the messenger between professionals who cannot see each other’s files.

The Real Problem Is Information Fragmentation

There is another issue. When clients see an estate planning lawyer, they spend the first hour providing background information. The same information advisers and accountants already hold. They pay legal hourly rates to repeat details that already exist in their professional file.

Everyone has had this experience. Repeating the same information to a call centre or a healthcare team. It is frustrating. Estate planning often feels the same.

At Inherit we built the platform to fix this exact problem.

Estate planning fails when data is not unified. Clients hesitate because the process feels slow, repetitive and expensive.

Our mission at Inherit is to move client information from advisers and accountants to lawyers seamlessly so that legal teams can focus on strategic legal issues, not data entry.

• Clients save time and money.

• Advisers strengthen relationships using client information they already hold

• Lawyers receive complete, structured instructions and avoid the work they dislike

Who loses?

Cheap Will providers who rely on referral fees, upsells and future probate work. Litigation firms who profit from family provision claims.

Who wins?

Clients. Advisers. Lawyers who want to deliver quality advice without inefficiency.

We think we are on the right side of this shift.

What about you?