FCA authorised · FRN 724952 0117 325 0027Quote & buy →
Aipedia: Will writers and estate planners
Will firms can use AI to help run estate administration, but they must stay on the right side of the reserved probate boundary and check every figure. Errors in asset tracing and estate accounts tend to surface as beneficiary complaints.
Part of: AI in Will writers and estate planners
In short
Probate activities are a reserved legal activity under the Legal Services Act 2007, so a will writer that is not authorised cannot carry them out itself. Some will firms offer estate administration support, often working with an authorised provider for the reserved steps. AI is used to trace assets, draft letters, reconcile accounts and summarise files. The risks are crossing the reserved boundary, missing assets or liabilities, and errors in distributions. Whether a will writer’s PI covers estate work depends on how the service was declared and the policy terms.
Estate administration is document-heavy. Firms use AI to read bank and pension statements, list assets and liabilities, draft notification letters to banks and creditors, reconcile receipts and payments, and prepare draft estate accounts. Some use AI search to look across the deceased's papers for assets the family did not know about. Chatbots may also answer beneficiaries' questions about progress.
These tools can save hours. They can also miss an asset, misread a figure or produce estate accounts that do not balance, and executors and beneficiaries will rely on what the firm sends them.
Probate activities are a reserved legal activity under the Legal Services Act 2007, which means only authorised persons may carry them out. Will writing itself is not reserved, as STEP's president noted in Legal Futures in 2014. A will writing firm that is not authorised must not carry out the reserved probate steps itself, and AI does not change that. Many firms work with an authorised provider for those steps and offer the wider administration as a separate service.
The boundary matters for PI. A claim arising from reserved work carried out without authorisation may raise questions about cover, and work outside the declared business may not be covered. Solicitors and chartered legal executives face different rules; see AI in probate and estate administration for legal executives and AI in wills and probate drafting for solicitors.
The codes' competence, confidentiality and complaints duties apply to the services members provide. IPW Code clause 2.6 forbids work beyond competence, and SWW Code clauses 2.3 to 2.5 require referral of work beyond it. SWW clause 2.8 covers confidentiality, data protection and anti-money laundering compliance, which matters when the firm handles estate money and verifies beneficiaries.
Illustrative scenario: a will firm uses an AI tool to extract figures from the deceased's statements and prepare estate accounts. The tool reads a pension statement as a lump sum payable to the estate, when it was paid directly to a nominated beneficiary. The firm distributes on the basis of the accounts. Another beneficiary has been overpaid, cannot repay, and the remaining beneficiaries complain and claim the shortfall.
Asset tracing carries its own risk. An AI search of the deceased's papers may find most accounts but miss one held in a different name or recorded only on paper. If the firm tells the family that tracing is complete, a later discovery can lead to a complaint about delay, extra cost or tax consequences.
Other common problems are a missed liability, a creditor paid twice, a beneficiary paid before identity checks were complete, and an AI-drafted letter that tells beneficiaries the wrong amount.
Whether a will writer's PI extends to estate administration depends on how the business is described in the proposal and schedule. If estate administration is declared, negligent errors are usually covered subject to the terms. If it is not, or if reserved activities were carried out without authorisation, cover may be disputed. Handling estate money also raises crime and fraud questions that PI may not answer; see AI ID checks and will fraud.
Apex arranges PI for will firms that offer estate administration and can check the services are properly described in your policy. See AI in will writing and will writer insurance.
An unauthorised will writer cannot carry out reserved probate activities under the Legal Services Act 2007, with or without AI. It may offer wider administration support and work with an authorised provider for the reserved steps.
Only if the service is within the professional services declared and the policy terms. Check your proposal form and schedule, and tell your broker if you have started offering estate work.
It can search scanned papers and statements for references to accounts, policies and investments. Treat its results as leads to verify with the institution, and record what was searched, because beneficiaries may later ask whether an asset was missed.
Usually the firm that issued the accounts, and possibly the executors who relied on them. Checking AI-extracted figures against source documents is the main protection.
Tell us about your firm and the work you do. A broker will review how your current PI treats AI-assisted work, or arrange new cover. No fee for a quote. Or call 0117 325 0027.
Start a PI quote Request a callbackApex Insurance Brokers Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Registered in England and Wales, company number 07014570. This page is general information about how AI is used in the profession and how insurance may respond. It is not legal, regulatory or insurance advice on your circumstances, and it does not guarantee that cover will be available or on what terms.
