Do I need a will? Poll finds many Canadians feel too young

Many Canadians are “lacking the will” to plan within the occasion of their dying, in accordance with a latest ballot.

According to the Angus Reid Institute, 50 per cent of Canadians surveyed over the age of 18 say they don’t have a proper final will and testomony in place. One-in-five Canadians over 55 mentioned the identical.

This is one thing Calgary lawyer Judy Stewart says might result in massive issues for family members who’re left behind.

“If you don’t have a will, what the law says is that your property is to be sold immediately and distributed in accordance with the law. So it’s very complicated and complex and, the most important thing people need to know, costly,” she defined.

The Angus Reid Institute says the variety of respondents and not using a will “remains consistent” because the pollster surveyed Canadians on the identical subject 5 years in the past.

Nearly 1 / 4 of individuals surveyed chalked up their lack of a will to their age, saying they felt they have been “simply too young to need one.”

However, the institute provides that, whereas it could be anticipated that youthful Canadians are much less prone to have a written will, age isn’t the one issue at play.

The pollster says Canadians dwelling in lower-income households are additionally much less prone to create a will, including “a lack of assets to worry about is a much more common reason.”

Meanwhile, Stewart notes many different folks delay planning just because they don’t know the place to start out.

“Not knowing who to name as an executor, not wanting to share the details, and then one of the biggest reasons for every age category is this idea of time,” she informed CityNews.

“Putting a will in place means that you care about your loved ones, you care about your family and who’s going to be left behind. You don’t want them to have costs, you don’t want them to have needless anxiety. You want them to be able to grieve and to look after your kids and anything you’ve left behind in the way of stuff and get on with their lives.”

Stewart says having a plan in place offers you the ability to make choices about your belongings. By not, she provides there’s the potential of great tax burdens being handed on.

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