What Can We Learn from Prince William?: How Estate Planning Lessons Can Be Found in Royal Decisions

The royal family made the headlines this week when it was announced that Prince William hired the same lawyers Princess Diana used in her divorce from King Charles III.

Now, don’t go clutching your pearls just yet—he’s not leaving Kate any time soon. The law firm is big and handles all kinds of matters, not just family law.

It’s reported that this departure from the legal team (that has represented the British royal family for decades) is because the Prince wants to:

• “Be his own man”
  
• Do things differently
  
• And more importantly, be seen as doing things differently
  

(Good for you William! You do you, boo!)

So, what can we learn from the crown counsel conundrum?

We can talk all about knowing your parents’ estate plan and getting to know their attorney.

At least once a day (ok, but more than once a week!), I get a call from a client with a death in the family and a vague idea of:

• Whether their people had an estate plan
  
• Who the attorney was
  

How we often investigate:

• We go digging in the property records (attorney info is sometimes on the upper left-hand corner of the deed)
  
• We search through mounds of paperwork for invoices or attorney communications
  
• We reach out to friends and family to see if an attorney or plan was mentioned
  

The Ideal Scenario

Once we establish an estate plan, we let our people know:

1. “I have a plan!”
   
2. “This is where I keep it” (in my desk drawer, in my closet, etc.)
   
3. “I have an attorney—she’s smart, funny, beautiful” (feel free to embellish here lol). Should anything happen, call her.
   

Being ‘The People’ Ourselves

We can ask gentle questions:

1. Do you have a plan?
   
2. Where do you keep your plan?
   
3. Who is your lawyer? – Is she smart and funny?
   

Why It Matters

It’s important to have these uncomfortable conversations now to save a lot of time and energy later.