What do Picasso, Jimi Hendrix, and Abraham Lincoln all have in common?
You’re probably thinking, not much. But they do, in fact, have one big thing in common. They all died intestate—which means they died without having a will.
As living creatures, the sad, but brutal truth, is that we all have a limited time to enjoy all that life has to offer. Before our time is up, we have a moral obligation to ensure our affairs are in order so that our loved ones can carry out our final wishes through a Will.
A Will provides clarity, formality and a legal structure. Without a Will you have chaos, potentially family arguments, a dramatically extended legal process and payment of unnecessary inheritance tax.
There’s still a widespread reluctance to write a Will among the UK population, with many adults never having written one. The IRN Wills and Probate Research Report carried out in 2020, found that fewer than 4 in 10 adults in the UK have made a Will. This came as a surprise to experts, who at the time predicted that the global pandemic would encourage greater awareness and action around Wills and estate planning. However, statistics show that there was only a 1% increase in Will-making between 2019 and 2020.
Although the number of adults with a Will increases with age, the majority of those in the 18-34 age range still don’t have a Will, mainly because they don’t think they have anything of value to pass on and it’s seen as ‘socially acceptable’ to not have a Will as the majority of others don’t have one either.
Dying without a Will presents many challenges to bereaved families as the intestacy rules often don’t reflect the wishes of the person. Cases where married and civil partners inherit cutting children and other intended beneficiaries out of the inheritance are all too common. Family feuds can also be avoided with the presence of a Will, as can a huge inheritance tax bill (in conjunction with the use of Trusts).
Please don’t read this article and think – yep, I should really get around to it. You won’t any time soon. You will stay in the majority. You will make a cup of coffee. You will look at your emails. You will hop onto social media – in fact you will do anything other than act.
You can start the process here and get looked after by our dental specialist Will writers. Whilst we would love you to work with us to create your Will, our priority is that you get it sorted from wherever – only then will you have peace of mind.
