UPL 101 for Advisors: Understanding the Line Between Information and Advice

Estate, trust, and tax planning sit right where financial advice meets the practice of law, and that overlap is exactly where unauthorized practice of law (UPL) risk lives. The line between sharing helpful information and giving legal advice is easy to blur, and getting it wrong can carry real consequences.

Join Karen Nachbar, Chief Legal Officer of Vanilla, and Erica Ellis, Associate General Counsel, Estate and Tax Product, for a practical session on where that line falls and what it means for advisors supporting clients through estate planning. We’ll define what UPL actually is and why advisors are uniquely exposed, walk through real-world scenarios that show where well-intentioned advisors get into trouble, and cover concrete best practices for educating clients without advising them. You’ll also see how Vanilla’s built-in guardrails, from Vanilla Document Builder to the Vanilla Attorney Network, are designed to help advisors stay compliant while still adding value.

Whether you’re new to estate planning conversations or already running them at scale, you’ll leave with a clearer sense of how to navigate UPL issues.

A note: this session is educational and is not providing legal advice. Advisors should consult their own legal and compliance teams for firm-specific guidance.