Survey Finds Two Thirds of UK Adults Don’t Have a Will

At the beginning of 2018, Macmillan Cancer Support conduct a public survey that interestingly revealed that almost two thirds of adults in the UK do not have a will in place. This means that well over half of the adult population in the country are not protected and could have their money, homes or possessions left with someone they haven’t appointed.

The research, which questioned 2,000 adults in Britain found that a massive 42% of over 55s don’t have a will set up. Furthermore, the poll also outlined the lack of knowledge surrounding wills, with the survey suggesting around 1.5 million people may have unknowingly made their will void by getting married. A legal policy not common known, marriage actually automatically revokes a will made previously, leaving it useless and invalid.

Several other possible errors were also found to be the general consensus. For example, wills that still included ex partners, wills that didn’t contain new partners or someone that they would like to be removed but haven’t. In fact, 1 in 10 people with wills admitted that they were still planning on updating their wills to include their children and even grandchildren but were yet to get around to doing it.

Will solicitors recommend that people have their wills reviewed every 5 years or after any major changes to their life, this is an official guidance figure given by governing bodies due to studies on life patterns. Despite this guidance, however, 25% of wills haven’t been updated for five years at the very least.

“The start of the year is the perfect time to get your affairs in order and make arrangements for your loved ones and the causes closest to you,” Craig Fordham, director of legacies at Macmillan, said. The charity is offering free will-writing services this month to help people get their affairs in order.

Previous research from Macmillan found that people’s top reasons for not having a will included them having “just never got around to it”, as well as the belief that they don’t have anything valuable to leave and that they don’t need to write one until they’re older. On comment of the news, will writing solicitors highlighted that it often comes down to people not being aware on how to go about the process or knowing themselves how to write a will. With government support readily available, as well as a host of companies offering the service, it still shows that the perception of wills is traditional and hasn’t changed despite its importance. Discoveries like this show that it’s time for adjustment but it is up to the bodies to make this change happen. If the adult population carry on in this vein, it could see many families across the nation left in a terrible state if the worse were to happen to their loved one.