
Many Seniors in Japan Reluctant to Create Wills
Society Family- English
- 日本語
- 简体字
- 繁體字
- Français
- Español
- العربية
- Русский
The Japanese legal office Authense LPC published its 2023 annual report on wills, based on internet surveys and other data. It found that overall, 65.5% of those aged 50 or older are either “very interested” or “somewhat interested” in drawing up a will. However, the breakdown by age bracket shows that the level of interest declines the older one gets, from 71.3% among those in their fifties to 64.6% and 55.8%, respectively, among those in their sixties and seventies. Perhaps the decrease reflects a tendency to not want to face the reality that a will represents.
Only 8.5% of the respondents said that they definitely planned to make a will, while 25.1% said that they probably would, for a total of 35.6%. The three most common reasons cited for not creating a will were “I have a small estate,” “I’m still healthy,” and “it’s not really relevant to me yet.”
Among younger people, there was a lower level of intention to create a will at some point, with a total of 27.1% of those aged 20 to 49 saying they would either definitely or probably draw up a will.
The percentage of those who have already discussed a will with their children is higher among those aged 70 and over, at 18.3%, while 62.5% of that age group are either interested in discussing or intend to discuss the issue with their children. However, about half of those who have already talked about a will with their children do not actually intend to create one. This contradiction speaks to the low level of willingness among Japanese to draw up a will.
(Translated from Japanese. Banner photo © Pixta.)