What’s the right age to start my Will?

Writing a Will is a vital part of building your future, because it represents your plan for a legacy that will go beyond your day to day. It’s easy to get caught up in working, spending and saving - the hard part is making sure that you are protecting and thinking about your assets, your family and your loved ones in the long term.

That’s something that up to 50% of Australians haven’t been doing - but we want to encourage everyone to take 20 minutes to make a Will online.

One of the top questions we get is, what age should I start thinking about doing that? What age is the right time to have a Will?

There’s no standard answer to that question; you must be over 18, but beyond that it tends to be almost case by case. The best answer we can give is this. The right age to write a Will is whatever age you’ve started acquiring assets of value or dependents in your care.

For example, if you’re starting out as a working professional and you have a superannuation balance and you own your own car, you might be in your early 20’s, and even at that point you should be thinking about a Will and starting to get it in place. Although those assets are small and may not seem significant just yet, planning for them could be important in the event of your death.

By the same token, if you have a spouse, a partner or a minor child - it doesn’t matter what age you are, it just matters that you are able to think about what you’d like to happen. You do have a level of responsibility to get something down on paper that will keep their interests aligned and put them in the safest and most secure place possible.

The same is also true of owning a pet. No matter what age you are, you do want to ensure that your pet is being taken care of by the right person and going to the right home, and your Will is where that happens. You can choose a beneficiary who will receive your pet (preferably one who you have discussed it with and trust already) and you can make sure there is an executor who will follow through with it.

In all of these cases, your age doesn’t matter too much at all. The right age to write a Will is whatever age you feel you have responsibilities that you want to meet. We recommend all adults start to think about their Will sooner rather than later; getting it down and keeping it updated can be a huge milestone for you, and you’re never too young to plan for the unexpected.