Over half of Britons without a Will

Posted 05/04/2012

New research has revealed 61 per cent of people in the UK do not have a Will.A study conducted by Standard Life showed 77 per cent of those aged between 35 and 44 are without the document, while this figure is 56 per cent among 45 to 54-year-olds.People without children at home are more likely to have a Will than those with youngsters in their household, as the figures were 41 and 27 per cent respectively.Head of technical insight at Standard Life Julie Hutchinson admitted drawing up the forms can be an uncomfortable process.However, “the emotional strain on your family, friends and loved ones could far outweigh the time and money spent in sorting your Will out in advance”, she added.A total of 31 per cent of respondents claimed they do not have a Will because they simply have not got round to creating one.Simon Crooks, who heads the Lifetime Planning team at Ashtons Legal, comments: “New rules come into force this week offering reduced Inheritance Tax rates where people leave more than 10 per cent of their net estate to charity.  In some cases this can benefit both the charity and the rest of the family. It will be interesting to see whether this results in more people either making a Will for the first time or revising their existing Will.”Posted by Simon Crooks