HR Leaders Are Adding Legacy Planning to Their Benefits Stack
69% of employees say they’d stay longer at a company with broader benefits.
Legacy planning might be the most overlooked and most powerful addition to your benefits offering—and it’s exactly what modern employees are looking for.
The Benefits Landscape Has Changed—Again
In the wake of global upheaval, workforce burnout, and rising expectations for holistic care, employee benefits are under scrutiny.
Gone are the days when a 401(k) and healthcare were enough. Today’s workforce expects more—especially when it comes to their families’ security.
You’ve likely already made strides in financial wellness, mental health, and flexible work. But there’s one major area still missing in most benefit stacks: legacy planning.
Legacy planning isn’t just about preparing legal documents. It’s about making sure your people—and their families—aren’t left in chaos when the unexpected happens.
And that’s where aPersonal Legacy Manager like SmartHeritance comes in.
The Silent Crisis Nobody Talks About
When someone passes away, it isn’t just grief their family faces. It’s complexity. It’s confusion. And often, it’s financial loss.
Most employees have more digital and financial accounts than they can remember—let alone keep organized. Their families, even with a will or life insurance in place, are often left to track down forgotten investments, outdated documents, and missing passwords.
Here’s the reality:
- Over $58 billion in assets are sitting unclaimed in the U.S. right now
- Only 32% of Americans have a will or trust
- Most beneficiaries never receive full access to what’s rightfully theirs due to lack of documentation
- The average probate process lasts 18 to 24 months and consumes 3 to 7% of estate value in legal fees
These aren’t just numbers. They’re stories of families scrambling through file cabinets. Of accounts lost forever. Of employees burdened with grief—and paperwork—because a system failed them.
What Employees Are Asking For
Employees aren’t just looking for benefits anymore. They’re looking for care.
In a recent MetLife study:
- 69% said broader benefits would make them stay longer
- 54% said they’d leave for a company with better well-being support
- 79% factor benefits heavily when choosing a new role
What’s changing isn’t just benefits strategy. It’s employee psychology.
Modern workers want purpose-driven employers who care for them and their families—through all of life’s moments, not just while they’re on the clock.
Legacy planning isn’t about preparing for death. It’s about preparing for life’s uncertainties. And it’s about showing employees that your support doesn’t stop at the workplace.
Where Existing Benefits Fall Short
Most benefits are reactive. They kick in after a loss. But they do little to prevent the confusion and financial loss that often follow.
Here’s how legacy planning fills the gaps:
| Traditional Benefit | What’s Missing |
| Life Insurance | Pays a benefit but doesn’t help families locate accounts or avoid probate |
| 401(k) & Financial Wellness | Focuses on saving—not how to pass assets on |
| EAP & Bereavement Support | Helps emotionally but doesn’t solve asset chaos |
| Wills & Trusts | Legal documents often go outdated and rarely capture all assets |
Even when employees do everything “right,” the burden still falls on their families. SmartHeritance bridges that gap by organizing and delivering legacy information—securely, privately, and automatically.
SmartHeritance: A Personal Legacy Manager
SmartHeritance isn’t a legal service. It’s a digital legacy manager designed to make sure no asset goes undiscovered and no family is left in the dark.
It allows employees to:
- Privately organize their digital and financial assets (bank accounts, crypto, life insurance, cloud storage, social media, real estate, etc.)
- Assign beneficiaries to each asset, with notes and instructions
- Keep their records up to date with minimal effort
- Securely deliver information to loved ones when the time comes—automatically, with no manual effort
SmartHeritance includes a patent-pending Wellness Protocol that detects when a user passes away and releases only the necessary information to their designated contacts—no binders, no passwords, no guesswork.
It complements your employees’ existing estate plans, and even helps those who haven’t created one.
We wanted a benefit that truly stood out — something that showed our employees we care beyond the basics. SmartHeritance delivered something both new and deeply meaningful. It was one of the easiest tools we’ve ever added, requiring almost no effort from our HR team, yet giving employees something they genuinely value. It’s exactly the kind of service people need but too often overlook.
A Small Benefit With a Huge Impact
SmartHeritance costs less than a streaming subscription. But it can change a family’s entire financial future.
For HR teams under pressure to improve retention, attract Gen X and Millennial talent, and modernize their benefits offering—this is an easy win.
It’s a high-value, low-lift, deeply human benefit.
Legacy Planning: The Next Chapter in Employee Care
In an era where benefits define culture, and culture drives retention, SmartHeritance is more than a feature—it’s a signal.
It tells your employees: we see you. We care about your whole life. And we’ve thought about what happens when you’re gone.
Legacy planning isn’t about death. It’s about security, love, and doing the hard things ahead of time—so families don’t have to.
It’s what employees expect from a modern employer. And it’s what your benefits stack is missing.
🔗 Discover how SmartHeritance complements your benefits and helps employees protect what matters most.