Let’s face it, wills and legacy planning don’t usually spark the most upbeat conversations. For many clients, it’s something they know they should do… but it lingers on the to-do list, year after year. It’s awkward, it’s old-fashioned, and for some, it feels a bit morbid. But on a recent Insurance and Protection special edition of IFA Talk, our editor Sue Whitbread and Social Media and Content Manager Meg Bratley sat down with Nick Adams, co-founder of digital wills and legacy planning business adeus to talk about the future of wills.
The conversation is a timely one, as the legal landscape around wills is undergoing a shake-up and advisers could soon find themselves with a powerful new tool to help clients get their affairs in order.
“Less than one out of two adults have a will”
Nick doesn’t hold back on the state of will-making in the UK.
“You know, less than one out of two adults in England and Wales currently have a will,” he explains. “I think a lot of people just put it off. You know, as a nation, we don’t really like talking about death.”
Culturally, we shy away from these conversations unlike, say, Germany, where people openly discuss what music they want at their funeral. There’s also a widespread perception that writing a will is complicated, expensive, or only relevant when you’re much older.
But that’s not the case. “I think what a lot of people don’t realise is actually it can take as little as five to 10 minutes and be very low cost to just get your first will in place,” says Nick. “Once you’ve got something, it’s much better than nothing.”
And if you don’t have a valid will? The consequences are more serious than many people realise.
“If you don’t have a valid will… it actually falls to the courts, and they will make a decision… and they won’t take a lot of input from anybody,” warns Nick. “It could be against what the original testator wanted to happen.”
In some cases, assets can even end up with the Crown. “Your entire estate can actually go to the King… and estates have gone towards upgrading the King’s cottages that he lets out. So, you know, there’s a warning there.”
A law from 1837 is still in charge
So why does the process still feel so old-fashioned? It’s because the entire system is governed by the Wills Act of 1837.
“It really dictated that to be valid, a will has to be on paper, it has to be wet signed by the testator, and it has to have at least two witnesses signed who are there in person at the same time,” says Nick.
Understandable in the 1800s, perhaps but nearly 200 years later, it’s totally out of sync with how we do everything else, especially for younger clients who live their lives online.
“If I could build a will on my phone in five minutes, you know, between Waterloo and Southwark stations, then great,” says Nick. “If you can make it fun, you can gamify it a little bit… it’s going to get a little bit more cool with younger people.”
He adds: “There’s nothing cool about a will… but again, having a will just means that you can decide what happens to everything of yours.”
A digital shake-up is on the horizon
That may be about to change. The Law Commission has just published its final report, and a draft version of a new Wills Act 2025, paving the way for fully electronic wills.
“The advantages of having an electronic will are huge,” says Nick. “Cost comes down… you don’t have to go and sit in front of a solicitor.”
That’s not to say every client should go digital. “If you have complex requirements—property in different countries, big tax implications, then you probably are better still going to that solicitor,” he says.
But for the majority? “For a lot of us, probably 70 – 80% of the population, we don’t need that,” says Nick. “You can very quickly just lay out your wishes as to what’s going to happen to you when the inevitable happens.”
So when could this happen? “With a bit of speed behind it, it could be eight to ten months,” Nick estimates. “But we can never quite say… this is a fairly major change to something that has been constant for a very long time.”
“You can take out insurance online, so why not create a will online?”
Naturally, a move to digital brings questions, especially around security.
“There’s been a lot of recent hackings in the news… so that is a persistent perceived issue,” says Nick. But he believes the right tech can provide strong safeguards.
“We can encrypt documents. You can actually put a copy on chain as well… so you can always tell who authored it when it was authored, and if the document’s ever in any way been changed.”
There’s also the question of capacity, ensuring the person is of sound mind when writing their will.
“One of the things that we’re doing is… building in some safeguards to help us to determine that the person actually had soundness of mind when they were creating a will,” says Nick.
Ultimately, it’s about providing another option. “You can open a bank account and transfer money online. You can take out insurance policies. So why not create a will online?”
Future-proofing the full legacy
The conversation soon moves beyond wills into wider legacy planning, and how advisers can help clients organise their digital and financial lives.
Nick explains the idea of a “life folder”, a complete record of everything from utility providers and bank accounts to digital assets and subscriptions.
“We’ve actually built what we call a digital vault,” he says. “It goes beyond just bank accounts… it also goes into the digital realm.”
That includes everything from Facebook accounts to fine wine stored in bonded warehouses.
And it’s not just about convenience; it’s about control and peace of mind. According to Nick, the vault is free and available for advisers to offer their clients. “I’d welcome all IFAs to offer that to their customers,” he says.
It’s also safer. “My father… has a file which really records his entire worth… and I’d dread to see if he’s put passwords in there as well.” The digital vault, by contrast, is encrypted, secure, and only accessible to named contacts upon receipt of a death certificate. It’s a smart solution for today’s digital age.
“It’s not doom and gloom, it’s about being organised”
As Nick puts it, legacy planning isn’t about dwelling on death, it’s about being organised and thinking ahead.
“A good legacy planning just is all about organisation,” he says. “We’re not trying to make this doom and gloom… it’s about, you’re alive, let’s be organised.”
He adds: “Let’s make it easier, not just for us, but if something does happen to us, then it makes it easier for those who have to clear up behind us.”
A new era of legacy conversations?
This is a topic that advisers and clients are probably not talking about quite enough. But that could be changing.
Whether it’s helping clients write their first will, exploring digital legacy tools, or preparing for a major legal shift, there’s a growing opportunity for advisers to take the lead, and help bring legacy planning firmly into the 21st century.
As Nick puts it: “I think we’ll look back in a few years at these manual, paper-based processes and just think, oh my gosh. Why did it take so long?”
About Nick Adams
Nick Adams is the CEO and Co-Founder of adeus, bringing over 25 years of leadership experience in high-growth international technology companies. Nick pursued studies in Communications, Advertising, and Marketing (CAM) at Richmond College, which laid the foundation for a successful career in enterprise sales.
Throughout his career, Nick has held senior leadership roles, building and scaling revenue and partner functions across the UK and Europe. In January 2024, he transitioned from corporate leadership to entrepreneurship, founding adeus to bring his own vision to life. As CEO, he now drives the company’s strategic direction and leads its revenue operations.
