Product Overview of Estately
Estately is an innovative software solution launched by FreeWill, a social-good enterprise specializing in the intersection of philanthropy and estate planning. This platform is designed to enable financial advisors to offer comprehensive and integrated estate planning services as part of their wealth management practices.
Key Purpose
Estately aims to simplify and democratize the estate planning process, making it accessible and manageable for financial advisors to guide their clients through every step. This is particularly important given the significant opportunities and challenges posed by the Great Wealth Transfer, estimated to be around $84 trillion, which underscores the growing need for robust estate planning solutions.
Key Features
Unified Platform for Estate Planning
Estately is the first platform to combine both digital self-drafted and attorney-drafted documents on a single unified platform. This dual approach allows clients to choose between a self-directed process or an attorney-led experience, catering to both simple and complex estate planning needs.
Client-Facing Technology
- Clients can be directed to the platform via the advisor’s branded website or through a personalized invitation link.
- The self-directed approach involves a guided questionnaire that helps clients determine which documents they need (e.g., wills, revocable living trusts, financial powers of attorney, advanced healthcare directives).
- The questionnaire populates the necessary documents, which are then generated with all signature pages, schedules, and other addendums ready for execution.
Attorney-Led Experience
For clients requiring more complex or personalized estate planning, Estately partners with a network of estate-planning attorneys across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. These attorneys can provide a range of services, from walking clients through simple plans to designing and executing more complex plans for high net-worth individuals. Clients engage with these attorneys through traditional attorney/client relationships.
Advisor Oversight and Integration
Financial advisors can track the progress of their clients’ estate plans through a personal dashboard. This dashboard allows advisors to download document packages, view a visual plan summary, and maintain involvement in the process while ensuring they stay within the legal boundaries of their role. Estately includes “guardrails” to prevent advisors from engaging in activities that could be considered the illegal practice of law.
Centralized Workflow and CRM Integrations
Estately centralizes the estate planning process, improving oversight and visibility into clients’ workflows. It integrates with various CRM systems, allowing advisors to interact with client information seamlessly while ensuring all decision-making processes remain at the client’s discretion.
Comprehensive Document Coverage
The platform offers a wide range of essential estate planning documents, including wills, revocable living trusts with pour-over wills, durable financial powers of attorney, advanced healthcare directives, HIPAA authorization, and beneficiary designations. These documents are available and compliant across all 50 states and Washington, D.C.
Benefits for Financial Advisors and Clients
- Scalability and Productivity: Estately enables financial advisors to scale their services more efficiently, particularly in serving clients across various wealth levels. This helps in maximizing client follow-through on estate plans.
- Client Satisfaction and Referrals: By providing a simple and cost-effective estate planning experience, Estately helps financial advisors build deeper client relationships, which can lead to increased referrals. Clients are reportedly three times more likely to provide referrals after creating an estate plan through Estately.
- Compliance and Risk Management: The platform’s “guardrails” ensure that advisors comply with legal requirements, avoiding the risk of engaging in unauthorized legal practices.
In summary, Estately is a groundbreaking platform that empowers financial advisors to deliver comprehensive estate planning services, combining the convenience of digital self-drafted documents with the expertise of attorney-led experiences, all while ensuring compliance and enhancing client satisfaction.