Data reveals Canadians are unprepared for The Great Wealth Transfer. Willful launches new financial advisor product to help close the gap.
TORONTO, Sept. 15, 2025 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- While Canada is undergoing its largest-ever wealth transfer, with $1 trillion in assets expected to change hands, new data reveals many are unprepared, and their financial advisors are not equipped to offer comprehensive estate planning support.
The Inheritance Gap report by Willful, Canada's leading online estate planning platform, found that only half (51%) of Canadians have a will and two in five (41%) haven't had a detailed conversation with their family about their end-of-life wishes. And though three in four (75%) of Canadians who work with a financial advisor believe getting estate planning support from their advisor is important, only half (54%) say their advisor has brought up the topic.
This presents a concerning risk for both clients' legacies and advisors' client engagement, especially because about half (49%) of Canadians say they're more likely to work with an advisor who offers estate planning tools, and 40% of advisors say they've lost a client's business after they passed away.
Today, Willful has announced the launch of Willful for Professionals, a platform for financial advisors designed to close these critical gaps. The platform provides advisors with an intuitive way to initiate estate planning conversations, deepen trust with the entire household, and establish multi-generational client relationships. By embedding Willful's platform into their service model, advisors are empowered to expand into holistic legacy planning—without needing to become estate planning experts themselves.
"We built Willful for Professionals to help every financial advisor not only start conversations with their clients about estate planning, but equip them with easy and affordable digital tools to get it done," said Erin Bury, Co-Founder and CEO of Willful. "I've worked with a financial advisor for many years, and they brought up estate planning in our first meeting. This gave me the confidence that my advisor wasn't just focused on helping me build wealth, they were focused on helping me transition it effectively."
Designed Wealth Management (Designed Securities Ltd.) has partnered with Willful, becoming one of the first financial services groups to adopt Willful for Professionals. Designed joins Willful's existing enterprise partnerships with Scotiabank, CIBC, Wealthsimple, and PEAK Financial Group that embed Willful's estate planning tools directly into advisory and financial services. Designed's advisors will be leveraging the platform to help clients prepare, engage their heirs, and build stronger continuity for families to succeed in The Great Wealth Transfer.
"Designed continues to seek partners like Willful, to provide advisors with tools and opportunities to expand their service to clients. With Willful, they now have an innovative way to integrate estate planning into their client relationships, expanding their client discussions and adding value to their clients' experience," said Gillian Kunza, CEO & Co-Founder of Designed Securities Ltd.
Willful and Angus Reid polled over 1,000 Canadians to examine preparedness and family communication on end-of-life planning. In collaboration with the MaRS Discovery District, Willful also surveyed 40 financial advisors across Canada to understand how advisors engage with clients and their heirs.
The Inheritance Gap report released today revealed that:
Most Canadians are unprepared for The Great Wealth Transfer
- While 51% of Canadians have a will, preparedness collapses among younger cohorts: only 10% of Gen Z and 29% of Millennials compared to 83% of Boomers. The assumption that planning is only for "later in life" is leaving younger generations exposed, even as they juggle mortgages, children, and debt without safeguards in place.
- The gaps extend beyond wills. Nearly a quarter (24%) of Canadians said they don't have any documents related to end-of-life wishes at all. The lack of preparedness is starkest among younger adults—62% of Gen Z report having no such documents, underscoring how far behind they are on future planning.
Families think they're talking, but most conversations lack clarity
- Canadians also struggle with family communication. About two in five (41%) of Canadians, including one in 3 (33%) parents with adult children, have never had a detailed conversation with their family about end-of-life wishes or where to find key documents.
- Younger Canadians are especially behind. Only 47% of Gen Z and 52% of Millennials have had these discussions, compared to 71% of Boomers. This gap shows younger generations often delay planning, assuming it can wait until later in life.
- Even where families are talking, clarity is often missing. Just 50% of married Canadians say they've discussed their own wishes and know their spouse's or family's wishes—meaning half still haven't aligned on basic plans.
- Across the population, only 36% of Canadians both know their family's wishes and have shared their own. Families believe they can check estate planning discussions off their list, but most conversations remain incomplete and leave room for confusion.
Advisors risk losing ties during wealth transfer
- The lack of preparedness also has major implications for financial advisors. Despite 75% of Canadians believing that estate planning support from their advisor is important, nearly half (46%) say their advisor has never raised the topic. This increases to 65% for Gen Z, leaving many younger clients under-advised and signalling a mismatch between client expectations and the support being provided.
- Canadians are explicit about the value they place on these conversations: 48% of those who work with an advisor said free estate planning tools would improve the perceived value they receive; 38% said it would make them more likely to continue working with their advisor.
- On the advisor side, the risks are already materializing: 40% of advisors admit they've lost assets after a client's death because heirs moved to another firm.
- Relationships with heirs are weak: 40% of advisors say they only have ties with 26–50% of their clients' heirs, while another 25% say they have ties with less than a quarter.
Advisors lack the tools to deliver
- Despite recognizing the risks, many advisors say that structural barriers prevent them from taking action. Half (50%) cite "clients don't ask" as the main reason estate planning conversations don't happen, reflecting a reactive posture that leaves gaps unaddressed.
- Another 27.5% of advisors say they lack in-house tools or resources to provide full estate planning support, while 25% say it's an uncomfortable topic, and 22.5% say it's not part of their business model. Yet nearly all acknowledge its importance: 85% agree that estate planning is essential to long-term trust and retention.
The research underscores a clear need for change: Canadians are underprepared, families are leaving conversations unfinished, and advisors face real retention risks without stronger intergenerational engagement.
With these insights, Willful for Professionals is being introduced as a new standard for how advisors can evolve their practice to meet client expectations in the era of the $1-trillion wealth transfer.
For Canadians who aren't working with a financial advisor, they can also create their own estate plans independently by visiting www.willful.co.
View the full report and learn more about Willful for Professionals at www.willful.co/professionals/advisors
About Willful
Willful makes it affordable, convenient, and easy for Canadians to create a legal will and other estate planning documents online by following a clear step-by-step process. Willful's platform was developed in collaboration with leading estate lawyers, and has pricing plans starting at $99. Willful is available in all 10 provinces, with a fully bilingual offering in Quebec. Since launching in 2017, Willful has helped Canadians create over 500,000 documents. To get started, visit willful.co
Survey Methodology
Angus Reid
These are the findings of a survey conducted by Willful from August 19th – August 21st, 2025 among a representative sample of 1,021 online respondents in Canada 18+ who are members of the Angus Reid Forum. The survey was conducted in English and French. For comparison purposes only, a probability sample of this size would carry a margin of error of +/-3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
MaRS
These are the findings of a survey conducted by Willful from August 13th – 15th, 2025 among a representative sample of 40 online respondents in Canada 18 - 55+ who are financial advisors and members of UserTesting's platform.
Media Contact
Charlize Alcaraz, Willful, 1 437-983-3317, [email protected], https://www.willful.co/
SOURCE Willful
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