Warning to families as Scots shun making will

Evening Times Online, 02/10/2006

Thousands of Scottish families are facing financial chaos because so few people make a will before they die.

A survey by the Scottish Consumer Council reveals almost two-thirds of people don't do so.

The most common reason given for not making a will was that people simply did not get round to it.

And the problem has become a lot worse in the past 25 years because of the huge rise in home ownership and the higher number of marriage break-ups.

"The findings suggest many Scots may be at risk of considerable financial detriment if their loved one dies unexpectedly," said the report.

SCC Chairman Douglas Sinclair said a "significant proportion" of Scots have no idea of the legal and inheritance problems if they died 'intestate' - that is without leaving a will.

Mr Sinclair added: "Some did not know how much a will would cost nor how this would compare with those costs, financial and otherwise, which may be incurred by their loved ones.

"This research gives us a useful baseline for future work in raising public awareness of the benefits of making a will."

The System Three poll is the first on the subject since 1979 and was carried out because of a lack of information about will making and concerns that many people did not understand inheritance rights.

The key findings are:

•Just over one third of those questioned, 37%, had made a will.

•Older people, home owners and the better-off are most likely to have made one.

•Only one fifth of semi-skilled or unskilled workers and unemployed had made one.

•The most common reason for not making a will is that people have never got round to it.

•The most common reason for making a will is to have peace of mind about what happens after death.

•More than half did not know how much it would cost to have a will drawn up.

•Only half knew that unmarried partners had fewer inheritance rights than married partners or that stepchildren had fewer rights than a dead person's natural children.

The report said the law had remained largely unchanged for 40 years and "does not reflect changing family structures".

Unwed mums and stepchildren, it said, face "potentially devastating consequences" if no will exists as they have no automatic legal rights.

The report recommends every adult in Scotland should be better informed about the importance and cost of making a will.