Women, wealth, and an evolving advisory landscape

March 6, 2026

Emily Brand,Head of Family Law at Boodle Hatfield LLP, reflects on the evolving place of women in the HNW sphere. She highlights the advancing role of women in wealth transfer and protection, and emerging opportunities for proactive financial advisors geared towards female clients and their priorities.

It’s a brave new world. Nearly 100 years ago, Virginia Woolf declared in “A Room of One’s Own” that “one cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well”. She might never have imagined that less than a century later, women are free to buy not only dinner for themselves but others too.

It is easy to forget that before the Married Women’s Property Act of 1882, when a woman married all of her property automatically came under the ownership of her husband. Married women could not therefore own property in their own right and, if they wished to have children who were not considered illegitimate by society, they had to marry.

Now these restrictions have been washed away, women have the opportunity to build and protect wealth in their own names. Women were expected to own 60% of this country’s wealth by the end of last year. Despite this systemic shift, advisors have traditionally pursued strategies to attract and retain male clients.

Wealthy women remain less likely than men to work with financial advisors, creating a large and growing opportunity for financial advisors. What then are the key considerations when advising women of substance?

Marriage and Nuptial Agreements

If you marry or are married, you potentially create serious financial obligations towards your spouse (regardless of gender and whether you have children together). Divorce can be the most expensive liquidity event an individual experiences in the course of their lifetime and potentially with long-term consequences.

Many of the female clients we support, who combine the ‘bread-winner’ and ‘home-maker’ roles in their marriages, are surprised to find themselves obliged to support their spouses financially to the standard of living they enjoyed during their marriage on divorce.

It is important to give careful consideration to the execution of a nuptial agreement setting out the terms on which you might reach a settlement in the event of a divorce. Some see nuptial agreements as being deeply unromantic – others as proof that the marriage is for love, not for money, and that mutual respect should endure a divorce. Whatever the discussions may involve, a nuptial agreement can be a means of protecting wealth against the risk of a messy separation and divorce.

Philanthropy

Financial advisors working with women tend to find they carefully investigate their philanthropic causes and give with a long-term vision in mind. Entering client conversations with a different perspective can generate greater scope for understanding, as all donors look to an advisor who empathises with their concerns.

When considering philanthropy with female clients, particular consideration must be made of the fact that women generally live longer than men. For a client to make commitments to valuable charitable gifts, she must first be confident and have a clear understanding of how much she needs for her own lifetime.

Testamentary planning

Making sure that a valid Will is in place is also vital. The rules if you die without a Will are complicated and can lead to unexpected consequences. The best route is to ensure that you have an up-to-date and properly executed Will to ensure that the wealth you have curated is passed on to the individuals you wish to gift it to.

A part of this can be careful structuring of wealth for tax purposes. This is particularly important where a married woman has outlived her husband, as the inheritance tax spouse exemption applies only to the first spouse who has died.

Nuptial agreements also have a role in wealth protection for the next generation. Succession planning, particularly where it is anticipated a family business or family asset will be passed to a descendant, should consider matrimonial risk. Where it is possible a family asset could be transferred to an ex-spouse on divorce, some clients view nuptial agreements as a central pillar to their wider succession planning.

Financial leadership

It is important not to presume that female clients have the same priorities as their male counterparts. When providing a husband and wife with advice, advisors can reflexively focus on their male client rather than treating the two as equal partners.

By adopting a household approach, rather than deferring to a husband as the decision maker, a financial advisor can build trusted relationships with both parties. By initiating informative joint conversations on complex issues around investment and estate planning, an advisor can prepare women to act as sole decision makers either in the event of a divorce or the death of their spouse.

Indeed, by proactively engaging with both parties during their shared lifetime, financial advisors can retain both parties as clients on divorce or support a widow through the death of a spouse. Woe betide a financial advisor who does not involve a widow as part of the Great Wealth Transfer, as they risk numbering amongst the 70% of advisors changed within the first year of a husband’s death.

Advice tailored to the specificities of women’s lives, their hopes and ambitions, provides a plethora of opportunity.