The wealth of German households is particularly concentrated in the hands of older individuals. This leads to significant wealth transfers through inheritances and gifts in the coming years. For several years now, banks have been supporting particularly wealthy clients in planning their estate succession, wealth transfer, and wealth preservation beyond death as part of estate planning. For a long time, it was controversial whether banks could act as executors of wills. However, the introduction of the new Legal Services Act on July 1, 2008, has largely eliminated these uncertainties. This opens up a new and economically highly interesting business area for banks, the opportunities and risks of which will be discussed in this work.