Social media for wills and estate planning: a practical guide

Your clients are adults who have put off making a will, couples after a wedding or a new baby, older people thinking about care, and families dealing with an estate after a death. Many arrive through a recommendation, so your posts often work by reassuring someone who has already heard your name.

Professional referrers matter too: financial advisers, accountants, funeral directors and care homes. LinkedIn reaches them, while Facebook and Google Business Profile reach families locally.

Once or twice a week is enough. Useful facts are the best content you have, as long as you say which country they apply to. For England and Wales, GOV.UK says a will must be signed in the presence of 2 witnesses who are both over 18, that you cannot leave your witnesses or their married partners anything in your will, that getting married cancels any will you made before, and that you should review your will every 5 years and after any major change in your life.

GOV.UK also explains that there are two types of lasting power of attorney, one for health and welfare and one for property and financial affairs, and that an LPA must be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian before it can be used. Check the current registration fee on GOV.UK before you post it, because fees change.

• Monday or Tuesday: a plain explainer, such as what an executor does.
• Thursday: a life event reminder, such as updating your will after marriage, a new baby or a divorce.
• Monthly: a post about you, such as how a home visit works or what you charge.
• Occasionally: a short guide for families after a death, with links to official help.

Sources: GOV.UK: Making a will, make sure your will is legal, checked 15 October 2026; GOV.UK: Making a will, updating your will, checked 15 October 2026; GOV.UK: Make, register or end a lasting power of attorney, checked 15 October 2026

UK: section 12 of the Legal Services Act 2007 lists six reserved legal activities, including probate activities, and will writing is not one of them. That means will writers, solicitors and other providers can look similar online, but are regulated differently. Describe your role, your qualifications and any body you belong to accurately, and do not use titles such as solicitor unless you hold them.

If your firm is authorised by the SRA, its Transparency Rules require you to show your SRA number and the SRA's digital badge in a prominent place on your website. If you advertise the administration of uncontested estates, you must publish price information on your website, including the total or average cost or a range, the basis of your charges, the experience of the people doing the work, likely disbursements and VAT. Point to that page when you post about fees.

US: in testimony on living trust scams, the FTC said sellers exaggerated the benefits of living trusts, misstated their costs and benefits compared with wills, falsely said local attorneys would prepare the documents and implied links to non-profits such as AARP. Do not overstate what a trust or a will can do, and check your state bar's advertising rules if you are a lawyer.

This is general information, not legal advice. Rules differ by country and change, so check with your regulator, professional body or a lawyer before you post claims, prices or anything about the people you work for.

Sources: legislation.gov.uk: Legal Services Act 2007, section 12 (reserved legal activities), checked 15 October 2026; SRA: Transparency Rules, checked 15 October 2026; FTC: FTC testifies before Senate Special Committee on Aging on living trust scams (July 2000), checked 15 October 2026

Fear is an easy hook for this subject and the wrong one. Posts about what happens to children, homes or pets without a will can be useful, but they should explain, not scare. People who feel pressured stop reading, and some of your audience will be grieving.

• Explain what happens and what someone can do about it, in that order.
• Avoid false deadlines such as "book before it's too late" or "last few appointments" unless they are true.
• Use calm images: people, homes, gardens and paperwork, not hospital beds or funerals.
• Be careful with humour, and never joke about death in a post aimed at families.
• Keep any figures about estates or tax to what an official source says, and link to it.

A will holds some of the most private information a person has: their family, their money and who they leave out. Never post a client's name, family details, executors or wishes, and keep documents out of every photo, even blurred. If a client is happy to share their story, get written permission and let them approve the exact words.

Ask every client for a review in the same way. Google's policy bans incentives for reviews, selectively asking happy customers and reviews from people with a conflict of interest. In the US, the FTC's endorsement guidance says testimonials must reflect the endorser's honest opinion, and its 2024 rule bans fake reviews and rewards tied to a positive review.

If you post fixed fees to consumers in the UK, the CMA says the total price should normally include unavoidable charges, including taxes like VAT, and that hiding extra charges until later is illegal drip pricing.

Sources: Google Maps user-generated content policy: fake engagement, checked 15 October 2026; FTC: FTC's Endorsement Guides, what people are asking, checked 15 October 2026; FTC: Final rule banning fake reviews and testimonials (August 2024), checked 15 October 2026; GOV.UK (CMA): Providing clear and accurate information about prices, summary, checked 15 October 2026

People think about wills around big moments: the new year, before holidays abroad, after a wedding or a birth, and after a death in the family. Plan posts around those moments instead of awareness days alone.

Disclosure: this guide is published by Zolyp, an AI social media manager. Zolyp plans a calendar around your content pillars, writes and designs each post, and schedules it to Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google Business, X, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, and Threads. You start in review-everything mode, so nothing goes live without your approval. Brand Brain can hold your tone and words you never use, such as scare phrases or titles you do not hold. Zolyp does not check posts against SRA, state bar or advertising rules, so read every post before you approve it. Everything in this guide works just as well done by hand.

• Week 1: check your Google profile, prices page and regulator details.
• Week 2: write two explainers from questions clients asked this month.
• Week 3: post one life event reminder and one post about how you work.
• Week 4: reply to reviews, note which posts led to enquiries and plan next month.