The Telegraph newspaper reports that around 57% of people currently do not have a will, rising to 65% among those who have children aged under 18, these findings were published on www.unbiased.co.uk .
Very recently the same newspaper reported the untimely death of celebrity Stephen Gately who died intestate and whose net estate had to be divided between his civil partner and his elderly parents.
Unsurprisingly, young people are the least likely to have planned ahead and made a will, with 88% of people in their 20’s failing to write one. But 1 in 4 people in their 60’s has also failed to set out who they want their money and belongings to go to, rising to 41% among those aged between 50 and 59.
If anyone dies without making a legal “last will and testament” their assets are classed as being “intestate” and are divided up according to set guidelines.
Under these guidelines, married couples automatically inherit only £250,000 of their partner’s estate. Over the past years there have been cases of mother’s having to sue their young children to gain access to money which has been passed on to them when no will was in place.
The main reason people gave for not having a will was that they had “not got around to writing one yet” while others said they had nothing of value to leave behind. Around 14% said it had never occured to them to write a will other reasons were the cost of setting a will up and indecision about who to leave their estate to. Indeed 10% of people said they had not written a will because they did not know how to go about it.
It is important that you take the time to plan for your future and more importantly your family’s future by having a detailed will put in place. Most importantly, having a Will in place can help avoid worry and stress at an already difficult time.
Call Lincoln Wills today to arrange a Free No Obligation Home Visit to discuss your options.