Recent research by Standard Life has found that 61% of British adults don’t have a will drawn up.
The research also found that people with no children in the household (41%) are more likely to currently have a will in place than those with children at home (27%).
Regionally Yorkshire & Humber is the least likely to have a Will (67%), followed by London (66%), the North West (65%), West Midlands (64%), East Midlands and Wales (both 63%), East of England (59%), South West (58%), South East (57%), Scotland (55%) and the North East (53%).
The main reason given by respondents for not having a will was that they just hadn’t got round to it yet (31%). Around 17% felt they didn’t have any substantial assets or that they were too young, and 10% just hadn’t thought about it at all.
Julie Hutchison, head of technical insight at Standard Life, said: “Creating a will can be seen as a difficult and uncomfortable thing to do. The modern family can be complicated, we’re all rushed off our feet and we don’t really like to think about death. But the reality is if you were to die without a will 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.”