Study by Ipsos Public Affairs for FindLaw finds fewer people getting

St. Louis Daily Record & St. Louis Countian, Sep 29, 2003 by Emily Umbright

In a 3 percent drop from a year ago, a national study conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs for FindLaw, suggests that 41 percent of adults currently have wills.

The same study, taken from 1,000 adults nationwide, found that 57 percent of adults do not have a will, leaving the state to determine the directions of their assets. Two percent of those polled did not know or have a response.

The decline in writing wills comes after a slight increase in 2002, which appears to be a result of changes in estate tax laws and Sept. 11 backlash, according to the study.

However, Scot Boulton, vice chair of The Missouri Bar's Probate and Trust Law Committee, said that he does not see fewer people writing wills.

I don't really see a decline in people writing wills, he said. We've always had a certain number of people rely upon non-probate transfers. . . . You can title assets, like bank accounts and securities, so it says 'transfer on death' to somebody.

Boulton said that if there is a decline in the popularity of wills, it is due to more people turning to revocable trusts, which, unlike wills, avoid probate if the owner of the assets properly funds the trust by transferring the owner of the assets' title to the trust.

I think that revocable trusts are very popular and are being used as will substitutes, Boulton said. But that doesn't necessarily mean that people aren't necessarily writing wills. It just means that the will generally is a very short document that says that everything that has to be in probate goes over to the trust.

Revocable trusts, or living trusts, receive funding by transferring the ownership of the assets to the trust. While living, a person does not lose ownership of those assets because the trust is allocated to him or her, but after death the trust becomes inherited by the successor trustee who distributes it according to instruction after death.

While settling an estate either through a will or a trust can be done without an attorney, Boulton advised people planning an estate to seek help.

There have always been people who believe that they can do that, and they don't need assistance of an attorney or other planner, Boulton said. But I find, and I think most estate planners will tell you, that not getting professional advice creates a lot more problems.

While he doesn't see a decline in people without wills, Boulton said that people handling estate matters on their own may contribute to the decline found in the FindLaw study.

If there's anything, there's an aversion to seeking professional advice and paying the fees, Boulton continued. Generally somebody ends up paying a lot more in the long run.