Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

Simply Estate (“we”, “us”, “our”) operates simplyestate.co.uk and is the data controller for the personal data described in this policy. We are an estate-planning firm: our own team helps you put your will, lasting powers of attorney and trusts in place.

We operate remotely and do not maintain a public office; our registered details are available on request. For anything about your personal data — including any of the rights below — contact us at privacy@simplyestate.co.uk. We have not appointed a statutory Data Protection Officer; privacy enquiries are handled by our team at that address.

2. What we collect

We only collect what we need to answer your enquiry and do estate-planning work for you.

• Contact details you give us: your name, email address, phone number and the county you’re in.
• The answers you choose to share in our enquiry form or fact-find. Depending on how far you go, this can include your family and marital situation; who you would provide for; the approximate value of your home, pensions, investments, business and other assets and any mortgages or debts; your income; any existing will, powers of attorney or trusts; gifts you’ve made; your goals; and any existing advisers. You decide how much to tell us — sections only appear if they’re relevant to you.
• Sensitive details only if you volunteer them — see section 3.
• Records we create when we work with you: notes, case activity, documents you upload to your private client area, and call recordings/transcripts if we speak by phone (see section 7).
• Technical and usage data: pages you visit, approximate location, device/browser type, and — unless you opt out — analytics and advertising identifiers and ad click IDs (see our Cookie Policy).
• A record of your cookie/marketing choices, so we can honour them.

When you use our free public tools (for example the inheritance-tax calculator), the figures you enter are processed to give you an instant estimate and are not stored against you unless you choose to submit an enquiry or request a consultation.

3. Sensitive (special-category) data

Estate planning sometimes touches on sensitive matters. If you tell us that a person you want to provide for is vulnerable or disabled — for example because of a physical or learning disability, a mental-health condition, difficulty managing money, or that they receive means-tested benefits — that is “special-category” data under the UK GDPR. We only process it where you have chosen to give it to us so we can advise on the right arrangements (for example a trust for a vulnerable beneficiary), and our lawful basis is your explicit consent. You never have to provide it, you can ask us to delete it at any time, and we keep it to the minimum needed.

4. How we use it and our lawful basis

5. Cookies and similar technologies

We use a small number of cookies. Only the essential ones are set automatically; analytics and advertising cookies are set only after you opt in through our cookie banner, and you can change your mind at any time. The full list, what each does and how long it lasts is in our Cookie Policy.

6. Who we share it with

Your enquiry stays with our own team. We never sell your data. We use a small set of trusted suppliers (“processors”) to run the service; each only handles what it needs to and is bound by a data-processing agreement. We may also disclose data where the law requires it.

We do not currently use TikTok advertising. If that changes we will update this policy and the cookie banner before any TikTok tracking is enabled.

7. Advertising, measurement and call recording

Advertising measurement. Unless you opt out of advertising cookies, we measure how our ads perform. To match a conversion to an ad click we may share irreversibly hashed versions of your email or phone number (never the raw details) and the ad click ID with Google and Meta. We use Google Consent Mode: if you opt out, these signals are set to denied — in your browser and in our own systems — and we also remove you from our advertising audiences. The same applies if you ask us to erase your data.

Calls. If we speak by phone, the call may be recorded and transcribed so our adviser has an accurate record and can prepare your notes. We’ll make recording clear at the time; recordings are stored privately in the EU and kept only as long as needed (see section 10).

8. Where your data goes (international transfers)

We keep your enquiry and case records, and any documents you upload, in the UK/EU (London region). Some of our suppliers are based in, or process data in, the United States — Google, Meta, Resend, Anthropic and Slack. Where data is transferred outside the UK, we rely on the UK Extension to the EU–US Data Privacy Framework (the “UK–US Data Bridge”) where the supplier is certified, and otherwise on the ICO’s International Data Transfer Agreement or standard contractual clauses, with appropriate safeguards. You can ask us for more detail on any specific transfer.

9. Automated processing and profiling

To help our team prioritise enquiries, we use a simple, rules-based calculation that estimates an enquiry’s likely complexity and value from the figures you provide (for example your estate value). This is internal triage only. It does not make any decision that produces a legal or similarly significant effect about you — a person always decides how we respond — so it is not the kind of solely-automated decision-making restricted by Article 22 of the UK GDPR. You can ask us about it, or object, at any time. Where our team uses AI to help summarise a call transcript into notes, a human always reviews the result before it is used.

10. How long we keep it

11. Your rights

Under UK data protection law you have the right to:

• be informed about how we use your data (this policy);
• access a copy of the data we hold about you;
• rectify data that is wrong or incomplete;
• erase your data (“the right to be forgotten”) where there’s no overriding reason to keep it;
• restrict or object to processing, including profiling and direct marketing;
• data portability — receive your data in a portable format;
• withdraw consent at any time (for analytics, advertising, marketing or special-category data), without affecting processing already carried out.

To exercise any right, email privacy@simplyestate.co.uk. We respond within one month and never charge for a first request. If you’re unhappy with how we’ve handled your data you can complain to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk (helpline 0303 123 1113) — though we’d appreciate the chance to put things right first.

12. How we protect your data

We use encryption in transit (HTTPS), access controls so only our authorised team can see client records, private (non-public) document storage, hashing of identifiers shared for ad measurement, and we strip names, emails, phone numbers and answers out of our technical logs. No system is perfectly secure, but we take appropriate technical and organisational measures and review them regularly.

13. Children

Our service is for adults arranging their own estate planning. We do not knowingly collect data from children. You may tell us about children you wish to provide for (for example as beneficiaries or for guardianship), and we hold that information only to give you advice.

14. Changes and how to contact us

We may update this policy as our service or the law changes; we’ll update the date at the top and, for significant changes, tell you. Questions, requests or complaints: privacy@simplyestate.co.uk. See also our Cookie Policy.