New research from wealth manager RBC Brewin Dolphin has found that a significant proportion of people have not implemented proper legacy planning. In a survey of 1,000 financially advised UK adults with £250,000+ in investable assets (plus a parallel survey of 200 financial advisers), only 22% said their beneficiaries are fully informed about the family’s wealth and intentions, while two-thirds (66%) have not reviewed their will in the last two years. In addition, only 59% of respondents have lasting powers of attorney (LPAs) in place.
The survey findings, which are published in RBC Brewin Dolphin’s report entitled From Paperwork to Purpose: Unlocking the potential of legacy planning, suggest that legacy planning is rarely just financial, with 57% of respondents saying legacy planning is about creating family stability and future-proofing their assets, whilst 42% cite legacy planning as a way to instil values and life lessons. Eight per cent of respondents say they haven’t really thought about succession planning. Behaviourally, the survey found that people are most likely to act once they feel confident their own future needs are protected, with 42% citing reassurance about their own future needs as the biggest trigger for action, followed by professional guidance on gifting (34%) and proof of tax efficiency (30%).
The RBC Brewin Dolphin research also suggests the greatest risk is not a lack of planning, but planning that is partial, outdated or unshared with beneficiaries, leaving families exposed to avoidable delays, disputes and increased tax at the moment decisions need to be made.
With more estates set to be brought within the scope of inheritance tax, as most unused pension funds and pension death benefits are due to be included in the value of a person’s estate from 6 April 2027, the report provides financial advisers with practical pointers on how to navigate the concerns their clients may have and deliver legacy planning that is robust and meaningful. Financial advisers report higher follow-through when legacy discussions balance the personal and the technical – starting with clients’ concerns around their long-term security, control of assets and fairness, before translating these into the right tax and legal structures.
Ian Kloss, head of intermediaries at RBC Brewin Dolphin, said:
“Legacy planning can look ‘done’ from the outside – a will drafted, a folder created, the box ticked. But a plan isn’t a document. It only works when it’s regularly reviewed, understood, and connected to a person’s real-world fears about running out of money, care, and control.”
Most advisers already do this day in, day out. The opportunity – especially as more families are in scope for IHT – is to make legacy more repeatable: a clear review cadence, joined-up pathways with solicitors, and, where appropriate, a structured family briefing, so beneficiaries understand the broad shape of the plan before it’s tested in real life.”
Phillip Wickenden, CEO, Ad Lucem, which carried out the research, added:
“The striking finding isn’t that people haven’t planned, it’s that the planning often stops at paperwork. In behavioural terms, that’s predictable: people do the ‘admin task’ because it feels controllable, but avoid the family conversation because it feels emotional and irreversible.
The data shows people act when an adviser answers the unspoken question first: ‘Will I be ok if I do this?’ Start with reassurance and clarity, then bring in the technical structure, and the conversation is far more likely to translate into real decisions and better outcomes.”
Key findings from the RBC Brewin Dolphin legacy survey:
- Heirs are often in the dark: 22% say heirs are fully informed; 45% partially informed; 14% not informed at all (19% don’t know).
- Documents exist, but reviews lag: 83% have a will; only 57% have appointed an executor; only 34% reviewed their will in the last two years; 17% reviewed their will five years or more ago.
- LPAs remain a gap: only 59% have LPAs in place.
- Triggers for action are human first: the biggest trigger people cite is reassurance about their own future needs (42%), followed by professional guidance on gifting (34%) and proof of tax efficiency (30%).
- Gifting isn’t binary: around half (50%) prefer a mix of lifetime gifts and inheritance, while 30% want to gift during life to see the impact, and 20% prefer to leave assets after death.
- Balanced conversations perform better: clients (58%) and advisers (58%) prefer a balanced conversation, and advisers using that approach report converting legacy discussions into concrete actions often/always 53% of the time (vs 49% when leading with tax/finance impacts; 44% when focusing only on emotional/family dynamics).
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This does not constitute tax or legal advice. RBC Brewin Dolphin is not a tax adviser. Tax treatment depends on the individual circumstances of each client and may be subject to change in the future.
- Information contained in this document is believed to be reliable and accurate, but without further investigation, cannot be warranted as to accuracy or completeness.
- Opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily the views held throughout RBC Brewin Dolphin.
