Life can quickly become overwhelming. Often people in Canada are so focused on the present, they may not see a need to focus on the future, including creating a will. While there are a variety of factors that delay people from creating wills, a recent report by the Angus Reid Institute reveals some information that may be surprising to some.

According to the report, the majority of Canadians have no will in place. Of those who do, 35 percent claim that their will has not been updated. Some claim that they have not gone through the process because they do not believe that they have a large enough estate to warrant the creation of such documents while others believed that they were too young to do so.

In fact, people who were 55 and older were far more likely to have a will in place than the youngest group examined, ages 18 to 34. Although the next age group, 35 to 54, were slightly more likely than the youngest, only 29 percent of respondents in that age group indicate they have a will. The report also revealed that men are more likely to have a will than women.

Unfortunately, life is unpredictable, and a completely healthy person could be involved in a serious accident at any moment. Regardless of the size of an estate, wills in Canada can help ensure that a person’s wishes are known when he or she is no longer able to voice them. Additionally, certain estate planning documents can help reduce some of the stress felt by surviving family members tasked with the chore of handling a deceased relative’s estate.

Source: advisor.ca, “HALF OF CANADIANS DON’T HAVE A WILL: REPORT“, Jan. 23, 2018