One of the major challenges in South Africa is that a digitally signed Will is not legally recognised and this means that many people die without a properly executed Will. Legal technology start-up QuickWill believes it has delivered a game-changing solution to financial advisors looking to overcome this challenge.
According to QuickWill Chief Operating Officer Mark Bosman, the Will is the centrepiece of the advisor relationship with their client: “It is the starting point for any estate planning discussion,” he says pointing out that most individuals expect their financial advisor to identify the most efficient ways to ensure that their assets are bequeathed to the correct beneficiaries.
QuickWill offers a scalable solution that is capable of servicing the full range of independent financial advisory firms, boutique wealth managers, and even large corporates.
The client’s Will can be drafted and signed immediately within the first 15 minutes of a meeting, without any need for a lawyer or 3rd party service provider in the process.
Additional benefits of the QuickWill solution for a financial advisor include:
- The option to co-brand the product. Can be nominated as executor on their client Wills.
- All client Wills can be stored in the cloud for easy access and modification.
- Built-in Liquidity calculator. Annual notification to client and advisor to update Will – providing a prompt for a client meeting.
Bosman concludes: “Financial advisors in South Africa will spend a lot of time focusing on what investment products you might need but often neglect the Estate Planning side of the equation, we think this new solution will give financial advisors a competitive advantage when it comes to servicing their clients.
QuickWill is a South African financial and legal technology business which aims to improve access to Justice for ordinary South Africans. The technology allows you to draft your Will online, appoint an Executor, and lodge it for safe-keeping. For more information, please visit www.quickwill.co.za