Financial planners will be allowed to charge clients fees for two months after their contracts have expired unless customers take action to ditch their adviser, under amendments to the Future of Financial Advice bill passed by the Senate.

The amendment passed on Tuesday was part of a raft of technical changes to the Future of Financial Advice (FoFA) bill that were jointly agreed to by the government and the Labor Party in a last minute push that left the Greens and the crossbench on the back foot.

Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Other minor amendments to water down the provisions to make financial planners act in their clients' best interests and to notify clients who had signed on before 2013 were not put to the Senate after the ALP baulked at supporting the changes.

Under current laws, advisers must write to their clients disclosing their fees every year. As well, every two years, clients must provide written consent to paying ongoing fees, under what is known as the "opt-in" rule.