A Google Consumer survey by USLegalWills.com suggests that previous surveys may have under-reported the number of Americans without a Will!
The key distinction was that previous surveys did not including those who have a Will that is out-of-date. Google’s new survey reported that 63% of Americans do not have a Will, showing no real change from 2014. However, a statistic that was not published before now reveals that 9% of Americans have a Will that is out-of-date. This means that 72% of Americans do not have an up-to-date Last Will and Testament.
“We really wanted to explore this group after anecdotally hearing from people who had a Will, but had it written before they got married or had children,” explained Tim Hewson, CEO of PartingWishes Inc., the parent company of USLegalWills.com. “In essence, although they technically had a Will, it was worthless.”
Of particular significance, those over age 65 are the most likely age group to have a Will that is out-of-date (15%). Of the 65% of seniors who said that they have a Will, almost one in four have Wills which are out-of-date.
The survey showed a positive relationship between age and the probability of having a Will:
• 18-24: 85% do not have a Will, 10% have an out-of-date Will, and 5% have an up-to-date Will.
• 23-35: 80% do not have a Will, 6% have an out-of-date Will, and 14% have an up-to-date Will.
• 35-44: 67% do not have a Will, 8% have an out-of-date Will, and 25% have an up-to-date Will.
• 45-54: 53% do not have a Will, 11% have an out-of-date Will, and 36% have an up-to-date Will.
• 55-64: 52% do not have a Will, 8% have an out-of-date Will, and 40% have an up-to-date Will.
• 65+: 35% do not have a Will, 15% have an out-of-date Will, and 50% have an up-to-date Will.
Even when discounting younger adults, 53.5% of Americans aged 35 and older responded to not having a Will; 9.5% responded to having a Will that is out-of-date, leaving only 37% with a Will that reflects their current financial and personal situation.
The income group least likely to have up-to-date Wills was in the $100,000+ annual income range.
The income group most likely to have up-to-date Wills was in the annual income range of $25,000-$99,999.
There were no significant differences when comparing across gender, region, or urban density.
Graphs of the survey data can be found on the most recent USLegalWills.com blog article.
