UK Wills & Probate Consumer Research Report 2024

The UK Wills & Probate Consumer Research Report 2024 analyses the findings from a consumer survey of 676 adults with a will and 280 adults involved in probate. It also asks a sample of adults without a will why they haven’t written one. Where possible, results are compared with previous surveys.

Key Insights:

• Only a minority of the adult population have made a will but over half of those without a will say that they have just not got round to it. So, many adults understand the need to make a will and a tipping point could be persuading more in the 45 to 54 age group to “get round to it”. Will writing is still an activity which most individuals fail to prioritise but many in the above age group will have built up property and assets that need protecting if they pass away. There are also significant numbers of those in higher income households that have yet to make a will.
• The percentage of those with a will hardly changes from year to year (between 36% and 40%) but the volume market is still expanding as the size of the adult population is growing every year. Interest is also growing in other services such as funeral plans and advice on lasting powers of attorney (LPAs).
• Half of those making a will used law firms and solicitors but, of some concern to this group of advisers, is that the percentage choosing this option has been falling over the last few years. More than in previous years some are writing a will themselves while more are also using unregulated advisers. Given this trend, the results of the investigation by the Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) into unregulated will writers will be interesting: the focus is on transparency and quality of service.
• More and more adults working through probate are deciding to do this themselves with no professional advice, a reflection of the fact that, for most, probate is seen as a simple process. However a longer than expected probate journey is an issue for one-in-four executors.
• Over one-in-four adults are under the false impression that all will writing services are regulated.

This report contains an analysis of the results of the latest consumer survey of the wills and probate market. This follows previous reports and surveys in 2023, 2020, 2019 and 2018. Where relevant, the latest results are compared with previous years. Based on sample of 676 adults with wills, 280 involved in estate administration and over 1,100 without a will.