Making and Changing Wills

• Main Authors: Cheryl Tilse, Jill Wilson, Ben White, Linda Rosenman, Rachel Feeney, Tanya Strub
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: SAGE Publishing 2016-02-01
• Series: SAGE Open
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244016631021

Wills are important social, economic, and legal documents. Yet little is known about current will making practices and intentions. A comprehensive national database on the prevalence of will making in Australia was developed to identify who is or is not most likely to draw up a will and triggers for making and changing wills. A national survey of 2,405 adults aged above 18 years was administered by telephone in August and September 2012. Fifty-nine percent of the Australian adult population has a valid will, and the likelihood of will making increases with age and estate value. Efforts to get organized, especially in combination with life stage and asset changes trigger will making; procrastination, rather than a strong resistance, appears to explain not making a will. Understanding will making is timely in the context of predicted significant intergenerational transfers of wealth, changing demographics, and a renewed emphasis on retirement planning.