Do you need a will if you don’t have any assets?

What is a will?

Your will, or your Last Will and Testament is a legally binding document that lays out your wishes after you’ve died. It needs to be signed with a witness to be legally binding.

What percentage of people have no wills?

We’re all busy living. Writing a will isn’t top of our to-do lists. It’s often seen as expensive, complicated and not that urgent.

But the majority of UK adults have a will in place.

The people most likely to have a will are UK homeowners (82% of UK homeowners have a will) and UK parents (50% of UK parents have a will).
Renters are far less likely to have a will with only 18% of UK renters having a will in place.

But someone without assets can benefit from a will too. Here's why...

Data from 15,000 Bow users, 2021-2022

Who needs a will?

A will is most famous for being a legal doc that is used to divide up assets such as money, savings, or a house.

But it’s also important if:

• You’re a parent or legal guardian of children under the age of 18: Your will is the document that allows you to have a say in who would look after them if you were no longer around.

• You have any possessions that you’d want to be left to family or friends: These might not be worth anything in ££ terms, but if could have sentimental value to you and the person you want to gift it to.

• You’re in a relationship, but aren’t in a civil partnership or married: Your partner doesn’t have any automatic rights if anything were to happen to you.

• You want to save the people you love time money and stress when you die

Unsure? Take our quiz and find out if you need to write a will.

Why do you need a will if you have nothing?

Dying is surprisingly expensive for the people we leave behind.

Dying without a will in place is called dying intestate and it can leave the people you care about with added costs (£9,700 on average), additional paperwork and unnecessary squabbles, stresses and headaches at an already difficult time.

And it’s disproportionately affecting renters. Not only are we taking a hammering when it comes to rising rent prices, but it’s costing us more to die.

Only 18% of renters have a will. Even parents who are renting are less likely to have a will in place, (only 25% have a will in place).

Why are renters less likely to have a will?

• Short answer: It’s a homeowner's world and we’re just living in it.
• Long answer: The end-of-life planning industry has always used buying a house as the main moment to encourage people to put plans in place.

But hey, as much as we cut back on that avo toast, lots of us won’t be buying a house anytime soon. The world is changing and the system needs to catch up.

That’s why we created an affordable will writing service that allows all of us to put a plan in place and save time and money for the people we love.

We provide on-hand legal support and an easy step-by-step process. It only takes 15 minutes and it’s sort-from-the-sofa friendly. It only costs £90, saving you around £210 compared to other providers.

Start writing your will today.

When do you need to write a will?

According to the government, we should update our will every 5 years.

But it’s especially important to write a will when you have kids, commit to a partner, get married, get divorced or buy a house - especially if you haven't got one in place already. And really, there is no time like the present.

Historically it’s been expensive and tricky to update your will. But life changes and wills should too. Octopus Legacy’s online will service allows you to update your will for free for the first year and for only £10 a year after that.