Activating the Will Bank: A Playbook for Digital Legacy Cross-Selling

Many law firms hold original wills for clients they have not spoken to in years. The document remains safely stored, but the relationship often becomes inactive once the matter closes. The firm may hear nothing further until the client or their family needs support.

A will written several years ago may no longer reflect the client’s family, assets, executors, beneficiaries, or wishes. The firm still holds an important legal document but has little visibility of what has changed.

Will bank reactivation gives firms a structured way to reopen those relationships. Rather than sending a generic sales message to every former client, firms can prioritise those most likely to benefit, offer something useful, and create a route into legal advice when a genuine need emerges.

What is a will bank?

A will bank is a collection of original wills stored by a law firm on behalf of current and former clients. It may contain documents accumulated over several decades, alongside client details and records from the original matter.

The firm already has an established relationship with each client in the will bank, but that connection can easily be overlooked once the document is stored and the matter has closed.

Records may be spread across paper files, spreadsheets, practice management systems, and storage platforms. Contact details become outdated, fee earners leave, and responsibility becomes unclear. Clients may assume the firm will contact them when a review is due, while the firm waits for the client to report a change.

How to reactivate a will bank

Successful will bank reactivation requires more than a one-off message to every client in the archive. Firms need a clear process for reviewing their records, prioritising the clients most likely to benefit, and directing any follow-up to the right team.

The following seven steps outline how firms can reconnect with clients in a structured and relevant way, while creating opportunities for legal support when a genuine need emerges.

Step 1: Define the purpose and ownership

A will bank reactivation approach should begin with a specific objective. Without one, the team has no clear basis for prioritising clients, tailoring the messaging, or measuring success.

The first campaign might focus on wills more than ten years old, clients with no meaningful contact in five years, or a relevant age group. Its purpose could be to verify details, encourage a review, or introduce practical legacy planning support.

One person should be responsible for coordinating the approach. Marketing can manage segmentation, messaging, and reporting, while the private client team defines when legal follow-up is appropriate. Operations and compliance should review the data, communication channels, and response process before outreach begins.

Step 2: Audit and prepare the will bank

The firm does not need a perfect dataset, but it does need enough reliable information to decide who should be contacted and how.

A basic audit should capture, where available:

• The client’s name and latest known contact details
• The date the will was prepared
• The date of the last meaningful contact
• The client’s approximate age or life stage
• The original fee earner or current relationship owner
• Other legal services previously used
• Communication preferences and permissions
• Confirmation that the original will is still held

The records should be separated into those ready for outreach, those requiring further review, and those linked to clients who can no longer be contacted. The audit may also uncover duplicates, outdated addresses, missing information, or documents not fully transferred into current systems.

Compliance must be considered before outreach begins. The firm should confirm its lawful basis for using the records, ensure each communication channel meets UK GDPR and PECR requirements, and give clients a clear way to update their preferences or opt out.

Step 3: Segment clients by review priority

A single message will not be equally relevant to every client. Segmentation helps the firm focus its resources and match the level of outreach to the likelihood that circumstances have changed.

The client’s age and the date of last contact provide a practical starting point, supported by when the will was prepared, previous services, and known family, property, or business circumstances.

A three-tier structure could include:

1. Higher-priority clients: Clients aged 70 or over, those with wills more than ten years old, or those with no contact for at least five years. This tier may also include business owners, clients with trusts or property interests, and clients whose original fee earner has left.
2. Medium-priority clients: Clients aged 55 to 69, those with wills prepared five to ten years ago, or those with a wider relationship across the firm but no recent private client contact.
3. Recent or lower-priority clients: Clients with newer wills or recent contact who may not need a legal review but could benefit from organising their wider legacy information.

The firm should use these criteria to prioritise outreach, not to decide in advance who needs a legal review. Younger clients may have married, had children, bought property, or started a business, while older clients may have reviewed their arrangements elsewhere. Segmentation should make outreach more relevant, not assume that everyone needs the same service.

Step 4: Build a tiered outreach sequence

A single email is unlikely to reactivate a relationship that has been dormant for several years. A short sequence provides several opportunities to reconnect without creating pressure.

The first contact should remind the client that the firm holds their original will and offer a simple action, such as confirming their details, completing a short checklist, or accessing a digital legacy tool.

The second contact should add practical value. A checklist could cover executors, beneficiaries, LPAs, property, financial providers, insurance, digital accounts, wishes, and key contacts. This helps clients identify gaps without suggesting that their will is automatically unsuitable.

The third contact should be more personal and reserved for higher-priority clients. A named member of the private client team could offer a short call or review appointment. Medium-priority clients may receive a lighter email sequence, while lower-priority clients can receive occasional legacy planning communications.

Every communication should provide a clear route to update details, use the tool, request a call, book a review, or opt out. The sequence should stop when a client responds, allowing the next step to reflect their circumstances.

Step 5: Lead with digital legacy support

A digital legacy tool gives the firm a natural, service-led reason to reconnect. Important information often sits across paperwork, email accounts, personal devices, and one person’s memory.

The firm can invite clients to bring together legal documents, financial information, property details, digital assets, wishes, and trusted contacts in one secure place. Lyfeguard enables firms to offer this support, helping clients organise the information their family or executor may need in the future.

The tool does not replace a will or legal advice. Its role is to help clients organise the wider information surrounding their estate. This process may highlight changes that warrant legal support, such as an outdated executor, a missing LPA, a change in beneficiaries, or newly acquired assets. Any resulting review becomes a relevant next step based on the client’s circumstances.

Step 6: Create a clear handover process

Before outreach begins, the firm should decide who will handle each type of response. Contact updates and requests for help with the digital tool can be managed by the appropriate support team, while potential legal needs should be passed to the private client team.

Clear handover criteria will help ensure that important responses are followed up quickly. Changes such as marriage, separation, a new child, a property purchase, a business sale, or concerns about an executor may indicate that a legal review is appropriate.

Where legal follow-up is needed, the client should be told why a review may be relevant, what the next step involves, and whether a fee applies. The outreach should not suggest that every client needs a new will or create unnecessary urgency.

Step 7: Measure relationship and revenue outcomes

Email opens do not show whether a relationship has been reactivated. Reporting should follow the client from initial contact through to any resulting engagement.

Useful measures may include:

• Contact records verified or updated
• Previously uncontactable clients located
• Clients using the digital legacy tool
• Review calls or appointments requested
• Dormant relationships reactivated
• New matters opened
• Referrals to other relevant teams
• Introductions to executors, beneficiaries, or family members

Results should be compared by segment, channel, message, and follow-up route. This shows which parts of the will bank respond most strongly and helps improve future activity.

Expected outcomes from will bank reactivation

A well-managed approach can create value before a new matter is opened. Contact data becomes more accurate, clients are reminded of their relationship with the firm, and the private client team gains better visibility of where support may be needed.

Some clients will discover that their will no longer reflects their circumstances. Others may need an LPA, trust advice, succession planning, probate preparation, or help organising their wider estate. These cross-sell opportunities arise from identified needs rather than a broad sales campaign.

The approach can also introduce the firm to executors, beneficiaries, children, and other trusted family members earlier, supporting greater continuity when advice is eventually required.

Will bank reactivation works best when clear segmentation, measured outreach, and practical digital legacy support work together. With Lyfeguard providing a useful reason to reconnect, firms can improve the accuracy of their records, reactivate dormant relationships, and identify relevant legal needs across clients and their families.