Statistics: Wills by the numbers in Australia

Planning for the future is a crucial yet often overlooked task, with many Australians putting off writing their Will for years before getting around to it. Our comprehensive research compiles key statistics on why people put it off, how interest in online Wills is growing, and the impact of the $3.5 trillion wealth transfer set to shape Australia’s future.

How many Australians have a Will?

• Between 58% and 60% of eligible Australians, or around 12 million people, have not made a Will. (Australian Law Reform Commission, 2019)
• About 64% of Australians with minor children do not have a Will. (Australian Law Reform Commission, 2019)
• An average of 52% of Australians die without making a Will. (News, 2018)
• 93% of people over 70 have a Will, regardless of assets. (Cheryl Tilse et al, University of Queensland, 2015).
• 16% of Will-makers reported that it was important to provide for charities/organisations. (Cheryl Tilse et al, University of Queensland, 2015).
• 93% of respondents with children stated that they would provide equal shares to their children.

How long do people wait before making a Will?

• 41% of Australians waited 2 years or longer before writing their Will.
• 15% waited 1-2 years before writing their Will
• 14% waited 6-12 months before writing their Will

(Willed Customer Survey, 2024)

Why do people put off writing their Will?

• 48% thought writing their Will would be too expensive.
• 44% thought it would be too hard or complicated
• 37% were too busy to write their Will.
• 29% didn't like thinking about my own mortality.

(Willed Customer Survey, 2024)

Why do people decide to write their Will?

• 38% of Australians said that they "finally got around to it".
• 13% said it was because they or someone close to them had a health scare.
• 9% wrote their Will because they lost a loved one.
• 8% said it was because they had children.

(Willed Customer Survey, 2024)

How do people feel after writing their Will?

• 50% felt relieved by writing their Will
• 17% felt confident by writing their Will
• 14% felt happy by writing their Will

(Willed Customer Survey, 2024)

Average age of people making Wills in Australia

• You can make a Will when you are 18 or if you marry under that age. (Willed)
• Most younger people, i.e. between 18 and 30, do not have a Will. (Cheryl Tilse et al, University of Queensland, 2015).
• 93% of people over 70 years of age have a Will. (Cheryl Tilse et al, University of Queensland, 2015).

How has consumer interest in Wills changed over time?

Estimated monthly Google searches for “wills online” have quadrupled from 2015 to 2024. (Ahrefs)

Estimated monthly Google searches for “online will” have more than doubled from 2015 to 2024. (Ahrefs)

Estimated monthly Google searches for “how to contest a will” have more than doubled from 2015 to 2024. (Ahrefs)

Google searches for “online will” spiked to record highs with news of there being a possible global pandemic in March 2020. (Google Trends)

Google searches for “write a will” have been growing steadily, with roughly two times as many monthly searches in 2024 compared to 2015. (Google Trends)

How people get their Wills drawn up

• 58% had their Will drawn up by a local lawyer.
• Another 15% used a Wills and Estate specialist.
• Only 6% used the Public Trustee (PT).
• While 11% prepared their Will using online Will maker such as Willed.
• Only 5% drew it up themselves.

(Australian Law Reform Commission)

The cost of drawing up a Will in Australia

The price of a Will in Australia is heavily influenced by its complexity and how it was produced. When not using a Will writing service such as Willed, the cost also differs between the states.

Writing your Will online with Willed

At Willed, anyone over 18 residing in Australia can make their Will for only $159. And it can be completed at your convenience. Couples can make Wills at a discounted rate of $238.

Writing a Will using a traditional lawyer

• Standard Wills: $300 and $500 per hour.
• Complex Wills: $3,000 but can be higher for intricate estates.

Contested estates in Australia

• 51% of estates which get contested were through family provision claims. (Cheryl Tilse et al, University of Queensland, 2015).
• 63% of contested Wills were brought by children of the deceased. (Cheryl Tilse et al, University of Queensland, 2015).
• 74% of contested Wills resulted in a change of distribution. (Cheryl Tilse et al, University of Queensland, 2015).
• The median cost incurred by estates in contested cases was $11,900. (Cheryl Tilse et al, University of Queensland, 2015).
• The median time between notification of a dispute and case closure was 9 months. (Cheryl Tilse et al, University of Queensland, 2015).

How much wealth is being inherited in Australia?

Australia's four million boomers, generally considered to be those born between 1946 and 1964, are estimated to hold around $4.9 trillion in wealth. They are the wealthiest generation historically and will likely be wealthier than any generation to come. (Productivity Commission)

Australians will inherit an estimated $3.5 trillion over the next 20 years. Known as The Great Wealth transfer, this will be the greatest wealth transfer in the nation's history. (Griffith University)

$320,000 is the average each recipient is expected to inherit. (Griffith University)

Approximately 65% of the wealth being inherited is forecast to go to women. (JBWere)

According to modelling carried out in November 2023, the wealthiest 2%, consisting of 78,300 individuals, were estimated to have an average of around $2.6 million in assets each. The rest had around $400,000 in assets each. (CoreData)

The value of inheritances is predicted to increase fourfold within 20 years, as household wealth grows and the population ages. (Productivity Commission)

In 2018, an estimated $120 billion was passed on through wealth transfers — including $107 billion in inheritances and $13 billion in gifts — more than double the amount in 2002. (Productivity Commission)

Unusual bequests in Wills

Jack Benny, the American comedian, instructed that a single red rose be delivered to his widow every day for the rest of her life. This was his practice while he was alive. (The Palm Beach Post)

Singer Janis Joplin left a US$2,500 US fund in her Will for a wake party after her death. (Ultimate Classic Rock)

Roger Brown, a dying pensioner from Sketty near Swansea in South Wales, bequeathed £3,500 to seven of his friends with the instruction that the money would be spent on a boozy weekend away. (Daily Mail)

Shakespeare’s wife, Anne Hathaway, got the cold side of the bed when the bard bequeathed her his “second-best bed” while his daughter inherited the vast bulk of his estate. (Shakespeare Birthplace Trust)

Billionaire hotelier Leona Helmsley left her nine-year-old Maltese, Trouble, a staggering $12m in her Will. Her grandchildren were only to inherit their share if they visited their father’s grave annually. Trouble became very troubled when kidnap threats and a court ruling cut its inheritance to a measly $2m. (Reuters)

German poet Heinrich “Henry” Heine left his estate to his wife, Matilda, in 1856 on the condition that she remarry, so that “there will be at least one man to regret my death”.

Famous contested estates

The bitter dispute over Kerry Packer's will between siblings James and Gretel Packer, which lasted nearly three years and involved a fortune worth over $1 billion. (The Australian)

In 2013, the IRS contested Michael Jackson’s Will, claiming the executors grossly undervalued Jackson’s likeness and name at little more than $2,000. In 2021, the Tax Court ruled in favour of the estate, ruling that the value of Jackson's name and likeness was $4 million and not the $61 million estimated by the IRS's outside expert witness. (Wikipedia)

Bob Marley's $11.5 million estate, left without a Will in 1981, has resulted in decades of legal battles among his 11 children and widow, highlighting the importance of estate planning even as the estate continues to generate significant income, earning $14 million in 2020. (Willed)

The music artist Prince's death without a Will in 2016 led to a six-year legal battle among his siblings and their children, ultimately resulting in a $156 million estate valuation in 2022, but not before two of the six heirs had passed away. (Willed)

Jimmi Hendrix died intestate at the age of 27. His estate was disputed for over 30 years by Hendrix’s father who claimed the rights to his music. (Willed)

Estate pledgers

Warren Buffett, who has donated over $43 billion to the Gates Foundation, plans to entrust his children with deciding how to distribute his remaining fortune after his death. (INC)

Other notable “pledgers” include Elon Musk, Larry Ellison, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and George Lucas. (The Giving Pledge)

Extra terrestrial

To date, 18 astronauts have lost their lives during space missions or preparations. (NewScientist)

The first lunar burial was in 1998, when NASA flew a portion of Eugene Merle Shoemaker's cremated remains to the Moon aboard the Lunar Prospector spacecraft. (Atlas Obscura)

Clyde Tombaugh, who discovered Pluto in 1930, became the first person to have their remains sent into deep space when a portion of his ashes was placed aboard NASA's New Horizons spacecraft, launched on January 19, 2006. This pioneering mission to Pluto, launched 9 years after Tombaugh's death at age 90, carried his ashes past the dwarf planet he discovered and onward into the Kuiper Belt. (Spaceflight Now)

In 2023, Elon Musk, who wants to set up a permanently inhabited city on Mars, revealed that "I'd like to die on Mars, just not on impact". (Benzinga)