Financial adviser vs solicitor for inheritance: who does what?
The solicitor deals with legal work. The financial adviser helps the recipient decide what the inherited wealth should do next.
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What is the solicitor's role?
Solicitors can deal with legal estate matters, probate, wills, ownership and other legal questions depending on the instruction. They are not automatically responsible for giving regulated investment advice.
What is the financial adviser's role?
A financial adviser can help the recipient plan around inherited cash or investments, retirement, investment risk and other financial goals within the adviser's permissions.
When do they need to work together?
Large or complex estates can involve legal ownership, tax, investment and family-planning questions simultaneously. Clear coordination helps stop important assumptions falling between professional roles.
Which should you speak to first?
If the estate is still being administered, legal clarity may need to come first. You can still speak to a financial adviser early to understand future planning, but major investment decisions should be based on assets you actually own and understand.
Distinguish administering the estate from planning your inheritance
A solicitor or estate professional may help establish legal authority, interpret a will, administer assets and deal with distribution. A financial adviser may help a beneficiary assess their own goals and financial arrangements after the relevant ownership and resources are clear.
If you are an executor, estate duties are not the same as deciding how to invest your personal money. If you are a beneficiary, an expected entitlement may still be subject to administration. Ask which position applies before requesting a recommendation.
Tax questions may require an accountant or tax specialist alongside either professional. Identify who is responsible for each calculation and filing rather than assuming all inheritance-related work belongs to one adviser.
Where the roles meet
For an illustrative inherited property, the legal work might establish ownership and authority to sell. Tax work might assess consequences of the disposal. Personal financial advice could then consider how the net proceeds fit the beneficiary's housing or retirement plans.
If a trust is involved, the deed and trustee powers need appropriate legal interpretation before investment advice relies on them. If a beneficiary wants to change arrangements or make gifts, legal and tax consequences should be considered before implementation.
The financial adviser should work from confirmed facts and identify unresolved assumptions. A model that uses an expected inheritance does not establish a legal entitlement to it.
Arrange the work in the right order
Ask what must be settled before personal planning can proceed and what useful preparation can happen meanwhile. You may be able to gather household information and discuss goals while estate administration continues, without committing assets that are not yet available.
Request separate scopes and fees, even where professionals refer work to one another. Confirm any referral relationship and your freedom to choose another provider. Keep distribution statements, valuations and advice records together for future reference.
Sources and further reading
MoneyHelper - Do I need a financial adviser? ↗
