What is a clinical will? A guide for UK therapists

A clinical will is a plan for what happens to your clients and your client records if you die, fall seriously ill, or are suddenly unable to practise. It names a trusted person to step in, tells them how to reach your clients, and sets out what should happen to your notes. Sometimes called a professional will or therapeutic will, it does for your practice what a personal will does for your estate.

For therapists and counsellors in private practice, it answers a question most of us would rather not think about: if I couldn't contact my clients tomorrow, who would, and how?

Why every therapist needs one

If you work with clients, you hold a duty of care that doesn't simply stop if something happens to you. Clients mid-way through therapy could be left without explanation or support. Confidential records could be left unmanaged. A clinical will makes sure someone can act quickly, sensitively, and within the bounds of confidentiality.

It's also increasingly an explicit professional expectation. The BACP Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions 2026 requires members to have a clinical will in place and to have appointed an executor who can communicate with clients if the therapist can no longer do so — a requirement that becomes mandatory for members from 3 November 2026. BABCP's Standards of Conduct similarly require members practising CBT to have a process in place for unexpected unavailability, "usually referred to as having a clinical will." If you belong to another body, check its own guidance — most now address continuity of care in some form.

What goes into a clinical will

A good clinical will covers, in plain terms:

• Your clinical executor — a trusted colleague or supervisor, bound by confidentiality, who agrees in advance to carry out your wishes. Naming a backup is strongly advised.
• An alerter (your next of kin or "initiator") — someone who knows you personally and whose job is simply to notify your executor if you die or become unwell.
• How to reach your clients — where your client list lives and how to access it, plus each client's preferred method of contact.
• What the executor should say — whether clients are simply informed, or offered a referral onward.
• Your records — where paper and digital records are kept, how long they should be retained, and how they should be securely destroyed afterwards.
• Your digital legacy — website, email, cloud storage, social accounts and mailing lists, and how each should be accessed or closed.
• Finance and admin — your insurer, professional memberships and registrations to cancel, consulting room or landlord details, and how any outstanding or prepaid fees should be handled.

A note on client confidentiality

Because your executor may need to see who your clients are, you should tell clients — at the start of therapy, in your contract or privacy notice — that you keep records and that, in an emergency, a named professional bound by confidentiality may contact them. That transparency keeps you on the right side of data protection law and builds trust.

Keep it simple, and keep it current

A clinical will only works if it's up to date. Review it at least once a year, and refresh your client details whenever they change. It should be signed, stored somewhere your executor can reach, and cross-referenced with your personal will.

Getting yours in place

You don't need a solicitor to draft one, though it's sensible to have the final document reviewed. What matters most is that it exists, names a willing executor, and can actually be acted on.

PolicyDiary is building a straightforward clinical will service for UK therapists — guided, plain-English, and pre-filled from what we already know about your practice, producing a document you can sign and hand to your executor. Register your interest here and we'll let you know the moment it's ready.