New research commissioned by Will Aid has found that 67% of UK adults either do not have a Will or have one that is out of date. Among those who have never made a Will, the most common reason was perhaps the most interesting: almost three in ten believed they had nothing worth leaving.
At first glance, that may sound perfectly reasonable. Not everybody has a large investment portfolio, significant savings or an obviously substantial estate.
But the question of what we leave behind is often more complicated than simply adding up the money in our bank accounts.
For many people, the more useful question is: if I died tomorrow, do I actually understand what I own, how it would pass to others and whether the result would reflect what I intended?
Your estate may look different from the way you think about your wealth
Most of us do not walk around thinking of our lives as an “estate”.
We think about a home, pension, savings accounts, investments, perhaps a business, valuable possessions and the things we have accumulated over the years. But those assets do not necessarily all pass on in the same way when we die. Some may pass under a Will, while others can pass automatically to a joint owner or be dealt with under separate pension, insurance or trust arrangements.
Understanding that distinction is important. A Will can only control assets that are capable of passing under it, so effective estate planning starts with understanding what you own, how you own it and what rules apply to each asset.
Take property as an example. If a property is owned as beneficial joint tenants, one owner's interest will normally pass automatically to the surviving joint owner and cannot be left to somebody else through their Will. With a tenancy in common, an owner's share can instead pass under their Will or, without one, under the intestacy rules.
So knowing that you “own a house together” does not necessarily tell you what will happen to it.
For clients with several properties, investments, business interests or more complex ownership arrangements, understanding exactly what sits within the estate is an important part of planning properly.
A Will is important, but it is only one part of the picture
A well-drafted Will allows you to decide who should benefit from the assets that pass under it, appoint executors to deal with your estate and make provision for matters such as children under 18.
Good estate planning, however, should look beyond the document itself.
Pensions are a good example. From 6 April 2027, most unused pension funds and pension death benefits will be brought within the value of a deceased person's estate for Inheritance Tax purposes. That makes understanding pension wealth increasingly important when considering the estate as a whole.
For somebody who has spent decades building pension savings alongside property and other investments, their financial position on death may therefore be considerably more substantial or complex than the phrase “I haven't really got much to leave” suggests.
The same principle applies to business owners. A shareholding or interest in a family business may represent a significant part of someone's wealth, but its treatment on death may also need to be considered alongside shareholder arrangements, succession plans and the wider family position.
Your family circumstances matter just as much as the value of your assets
There is another reason why focusing purely on the size of an estate can be misleading.
The law does not necessarily reproduce the arrangements that somebody might assume will happen naturally.
An unmarried partner, for example, does not automatically inherit under the intestacy rules in England and Wales, regardless of how long the couple has lived together. Where somebody dies without a valid Will, a statutory order determines which relatives inherit.
For families involving second marriages, children from previous relationships, stepchildren or financially dependent relatives, the position can become more complicated still.
In circumstances like these, the making of a Will allows you to make deliberate, considered decisions rather than leaving those decisions to rules that may produce a very different outcome from the one you had assumed.
Some of the most difficult decisions involve things with little financial value
There are also possessions which may be worth relatively little on paper but mean a great deal to a family.
Jewellery, photographs, artwork, collections, furniture or items passed down through generations can carry considerable sentimental value. Where several family members attach importance to the same possessions, uncertainty about what should happen to them can create difficulty at an already emotional time.
Again, this has little to do with being particularly wealthy. It is about having clarity and reassurance that your possessions will be passed on the way you intended.
Estate planning starts with understanding what you have
Perhaps the most useful lesson from the Will Aid research is not simply that more people should make a Will.
It is that deciding you have “nothing to leave” may come before you have properly considered what you own, how it is held and what would happen to it.
For someone with property, pensions, investments, business interests or more complicated family circumstances, making a Will should form part of a wider conversation about their estate and the people they want to provide for.
At Heringtons, our Private Client lawyers can help you look at your circumstances as a whole, understand how your assets are likely to be dealt with and consider whether your existing Will and estate planning arrangements still reflect what you want to achieve.
For something this personal, understanding the position properly is a good place to start.
Please get in touch with our Wills & Probate team if you would like to discuss making a Will, or have any other questions on this article. You can reach them on 0800 001 4543.