Opportunities for life insurance specialists to become involved in estate planning advice are increasing, says Redchip Lawyers Director Ian Tindale.

“People are using insurance as a means to provide for financial dependents,” he told the Association of Financial Advisers conference on the Gold Coast last week.

“This means life insurance is not a product, but a solution to a particular need.”

Mr Tindale says advisers need to talk to people such as lawyers about building insurance into the estate plan.

“Lawyers don’t see insurance as being about preserving the pie for future generations,” he said.

“Insurance is a great tool to ensure the estate pie is big enough to look after everybody.”

He says more than $600 billion of assets are expected to pass from one generation to another during the next 10 years.

The Carter Group succession and estate planning specialist Craig Ball says one of the reasons why life insurance doesn’t feature very often in estate plans is because “there are very few specialist advisers who become involved in estate planning”.

Mr Ball admits it is difficult to create a professional relationship with lawyers and accountants because of the belief the adviser is just there to sell a product.