Wills hit the wall with demise of traditional nuclear family

Thursday 16th February 2012

Parents of extended families that include step and adopted children are almost twice as likely as those with natural children to put off drawing up a will or revising its contents, according to a new study.

One in five (20%) parents with natural born sons and daughters has avoided creating or amending a will because they are unable to decide how to divide their assets amongst the family and many parents fear the outcome will upset their children, according to the study by Investec Wealth & Investment (IW&I).

However among parents with stepchildren and adopted children, this figure rises to 35% and 47% respectively.

Investec’s research suggests that millions of parents risk excluding their children and stepchildren from a share of their estate because they have neither drafted a will nor kept it updated.

5.6 million (19%) parents have had two or more relationships that have led them to become legally responsible for children while 12% and 13% of parents have at least one stepson and stepdaughter respectively.

However, IW&I warns that stepchildren have no natural entitlement to an inheritance regardless of how long they have been in the family unit.

The study shows how parents have very different views on how to allocate their inheritance between their children: almost one in three parents (31%) are not planning to divide up their assets evenly between their children.

 Around 5% will leave more to their natural children than their stepchildren and / or those that have been adopted, and 4% of parents plan to allocate their inheritance according to need, prioritising children who require the most help.

Furthermore, 6% of parents have chosen to exclude their children from their wills altogether. 

“Families, second families, stepfamilies and the extended relations of each unit can create a complicated web of relatives,” said Chris Aitken, head of financial planning at Investec Wealth & Investment.

“Our research clearly shows that many parents in this type of situation are more likely to avoid untangling this through writing a will,.

“If a will hasn’t been made, then the work required to distribute funds is far more complex and may ultimately mean that those intended to benefit through an inheritance such as children from first marriages may not actually receive anything.”

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