The best estate planning Google Ads keywords combine a service ("living trust," "will," "probate," "Medicaid planning") with a hiring word ("attorney," "lawyer") or a location. Those terms reach people who have already decided to pay a professional. Just as important is the negative keyword list, because a large share of estate planning searches come from people who want free forms, definitions or jobs, and none of them will sign a flat-fee engagement.
What follows is a working list you can adapt, organized by how ready the searcher is to hire.
Estate Planning Google Ads Keywords by Intent
Group your keywords by intent tier and give the top tier most of your budget.
| Tier | Example keywords | Who's searching | Bid approach |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Ready to hire | "living trust attorney near me," "estate planning lawyer [city]," "will and trust attorney," "revocable trust lawyer" | Couples and individuals comparing firms | Bid to win; own ad group per service |
| 2. Time-sensitive | "probate attorney [county]," "executor lawyer," "medicaid planning attorney," "nursing home asset protection lawyer" | Executors, adult children, caregivers | Separate campaign; often higher bids |
| 3. Comparing options | "living trust cost," "how much does a will cost with a lawyer," "trust vs will attorney" | Price-checkers, many of whom will hire | Moderate bids; send to fee page |
| 4. Researching | "do I need a trust," "what is a pour over will," "how to avoid probate" | Early-stage readers | Usually leave to SEO, not ads |
Tier 3 is the one firms argue about. Someone searching "living trust cost" might be a couple ready to book once they see a fee, or a person hoping for a $49 online form. If you publish your flat fees, tier 3 can perform well because the ad and landing page answer the question right away. If you don't, those clicks tend to bounce.
The Trouble With Bidding on "Estate Planning"
The bare term "estate planning" is one of the most expensive mistakes in this practice area. It matches financial planners, retirement software, insurance agents, college courses, job listings and people who want to know what the phrase means.
If you want it at all, use it only in phrase or exact match with a hiring word attached: "estate planning attorney," "estate planning lawyer near me." And check the search terms report weekly for the first month.
The same goes for "trust." On broad match it can pull in "trust fund," "trust issues," "trust company jobs" and banking terms. Always pair it with "living," "revocable," "attorney" or "lawyer."
Negative Keywords for Estate Planning Campaigns
Add these at the account or campaign level before launch, then expand from your own search terms report.
DIY and free intent
free, template, form, forms, printable, PDF, sample, example, kit, software, online will, fill in, yourself, DIY, handwritten, holographic (unless you advise on these), notary, notarize
Education and careers
jobs, career, salary, paralegal, course, class, certification, CLE, degree, school, exam, internship, hiring
Wrong product
financial planner, financial advisor, insurance, annuity, life insurance quote, bank, trust company, trust fund baby, crypto, real estate agent, realtor
Information only
definition, meaning, what is, wikipedia, reddit (consider this one carefully), example of, sample letter
Competitor platforms
Names of DIY legal document websites and software brands. Searchers using those names usually want that product.
Be careful with negatives like "cost," "cheap" or "affordable." Plenty of people who type "affordable living trust attorney" hire a lawyer at a normal fee. Block "cheap" only if your search terms show it's bringing junk. "Reddit" is similar: some careful researchers add it to see real opinions, then hire.
Match Types That Fit a Small Budget
For most small planning firms, phrase and exact match should carry the account at first. Broad match can work alongside Smart Bidding once you have reliable conversion data (ideally including imported signed-client data), but with a thin budget it tends to spend on loosely related searches before it learns.
A practical starting setup:
- Exact: [living trust attorney], [estate planning attorney near me], [probate lawyer near me]
- Phrase: "trust attorney," "will lawyer," "probate attorney," "elder law attorney"
- Location modifiers: your city, county and neighborhoods people actually use
One more list belongs in every planning account: your own firm and attorney names, in a small brand campaign. Because planning clients research for weeks, many come back by searching your name after reading your trust page or hearing about you from a friend. Brand clicks are usually cheap, and owning that result keeps a competitor from sitting above you at the moment someone finally decides.
Our guide to estate planning PPC covers campaign structure and bidding, and the common Google Ads mistakes law firms make applies here too.
Probate and Elder Law Terms Behave Differently
Probate and elder law searchers often use plain-language phrases instead of legal terms, so your keyword list should include the words a grieving or worried family member would type.
- "mom died what to do with her house"
- "executor of will lawyer"
- "how to transfer property after death attorney"
- "dad going into nursing home protect house"
- "medicaid spend down lawyer"
- "guardianship attorney for elderly parent"
Some of these overlap with general information searches, so pair them with a landing page that makes calling easy. If you serve these clients, a dedicated campaign is worth it. More on that in elder law and Medicaid planning marketing and probate lawyer marketing.
How much of your budget goes to "free will" searches?
We'll pull your search terms report, flag the wasted spend, and give you a negative list built for your market.
A Weekly Search Terms Routine
Keyword lists are never finished. Fifteen minutes a week in the search terms report keeps an estate planning account clean.
- Sort by cost and look at anything that spent without converting.
- Add obvious junk as negatives at the right level (account for jobs and templates, campaign for service mismatches).
- Promote good terms that converted into exact or phrase keywords.
- Check for searches about services you don't offer (such as tax preparation or real estate closings) and exclude them.
If you'd rather not do this yourself, our Google Ads management for law firms includes it, and the PPC guide for lawyers explains the basics.
Frequently Asked Questions
Service-plus-hiring terms usually perform best: "living trust attorney," "estate planning lawyer near me," "will and trust attorney [city]," and for time-sensitive work, "probate attorney [county]" and "medicaid planning attorney." Avoid bidding on bare "estate planning" or "trust," which attract financial planners, students and people looking for free forms.
Start with DIY terms (free, template, form, printable, kit, software, yourself), career terms (jobs, salary, paralegal, course), wrong products (financial advisor, insurance, annuity, bank) and information-only terms (definition, meaning). Add the names of DIY document platforms. Then review the search terms report weekly and add new negatives based on what actually triggered your ads.
Often yes, if you publish your flat fees and send those clicks to a page that shows them. People checking cost include many who will hire once they see a fair price. If your fees aren't on your site, those clicks tend to bounce, and you may do better leaving cost terms out until you have a page that answers the question.
Usually not. Probate searchers are executors or family members after a death, they search with more urgency and plainer language, and click costs can differ. A separate campaign lets you set its budget, write ads about next steps instead of planning, and send traffic to a probate-specific landing page.