Making and Changing Wills: Prevalence, Predictors, and Triggers

SAGE Open

Cheryl Tilse¹ 

关键词: wills;    inheritance;    intergenerational transfers;    family;   

DOI  :  10.1177/2158244016631021

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Sage Journals

【 摘 要 】

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.

【 授权许可】

CC BY