Madison Eubanks

Jul 26, 2024

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50 Estate Planning Statistics and Facts You Need to Know

Whether or not you’re a financial planning professional, being on top of trends and facts about estate planning can help you make informed decisions with regards to finances. 

In this article, we’ve rounded up 50 estate planning statistics from 2024 from Vanilla research and sources around the web that you’ll want to remember. 

Why estate planning matters 

Why is estate planning important, and why does it seem like more people are talking about it now? 

Not having a plan can cause problems down the road

• Over a third (35%) of US adults say they or someone they know have experienced familial conflict because of lack of estate planning. 
• Probate expenses can cost up to 10% of a person’s estate, and can take months or even years to complete.
• Thirty-one percent (31%) of people say leaving loved ones without enough money is the most damaging result of a poorly planned estate strategy

The great wealth transfer is here

• In the next few decades, it’s estimated that $84.4 trillion worth of assets will be transferred through estates. 
• Over four-fifths (83%) of investors are concerned that this mass transfer of assets will not go smoothly. 
• Additionally, 28% of investors don’t have a wealth transfer plan in place. (USB Investor Watch)

But most people have a will… right?

Actually, wrong. Despite a surge in planning sparked by the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, many people still lack any meaningful estate planning. The likelihood of having an estate plan is related to age and economic status, according to Vanilla’s research. 

Older generations are more likely to have an estate plan 

Here are the percentages of people in each generation who have a trust, will, or estate plan:

• Baby Boomers (57.5%)
• Silent Generation (54%)
• Gen X (53%)
• Millennials (43%)
• Gen Z (39%) 

People above certain wealth thresholds are more likely to have an estate plan

• 77% of people with more than $1M of household net worth have an estate plan, will, or trust.
• Only 36% of people with household net worth of less than $1M have an estate plan, will, or trust.
• 90% of people with household net worth of over $25M have consulted with an estate planner, estate attorney, or family attorney.
• 16% of those with over $25M in household net worth have no estate plan, will, or trust. (Vanilla)

For more on documents like wills, check out Vanilla’s essential estate planning checklist here. 

Estate planning can run in the family

• People whose parents have/had an estate plan are 2.5x more likely to have consulted with an estate planner, estate attorney, or family attorney regarding a trust or will.
• Almost half (45%) of people say they’re more likely to hire a financial advisor who had previously worked with their parents. (Vanilla)

Why people do and don’t have wills

As with anything, the logic behind why people do or don’t have an estate plan varies. 

Why people don’t have wills

According to a caring.com survey, only 32% of Americans have a will in place. Here are the top reasons people say they haven’t created one: 

• 40% say they haven’t gotten around to it
• 33% feel they don’t have enough assets to leave to someone
• 13% say creating one would be too expensive
• 12% don’t know how to create a will

For many people, creating a will, trust, or estate plan begins with a catalyst event. Here are the events that influence people to start or revisit their estate plans: 

• Change in personal health (29%)
• Death of a friend or relative (23%)
• Family change or conflict like marriage or divorce (10%)
• Retirement (10%)
• Change in personal financial circumstances (8%)
• Birth of a child (7%)
• Economic trends and predictions (3%)
• Moving to a different state (3%)
• Making a major purchase like a house (2%)
• Regulatory shifts like tax policy changes (2%)
• News of a celebrity death or estate controversy (2%) 

Additionally, many people feel that creating a will or estate plan is something they should do. 

• Over half (52%) of Americans over the age of 55 say dying without an end of life plan would be irresponsible….
  • Over a fifth (22%) say it would be inconsiderate.
  • Fourteen percent (14%) say it would be ignorant. 
• Seventy-one percent (71%) of adults in the US say creating an estate plan would make them feel like a good parent or partner. 
• When asked the most damaging consequences of a poor estate plan, 31% of people say it’s leaving loved ones without enough money.

  

Lack of information and communication

In some cases, people are simply not aware of how they or their family could be impacted due to lack of estate planning, and aren’t talking about it with loved ones. 

Many people are uninformed about estate laws

• Only a third (34%) of people say they know their state’s estate tax and/or probate rate.
• Another third (34%) acknowledge the existence of a state estate tax and/or probate costs but were uncertain about specific rates.
• A final third (32%) are unaware of their state’s probate costs or whether the state has an estate tax. (Vanilla)
• Nearly one in five (18%) of people don’t know what an advance healthcare directive is.

People often fail to communicate about their estate planning

• Forty-one percent (41%) of people between the ages of 18 and 34, and 34% of people between 35 and 54 have never discussed estate planning with anyone. 
• Almost half (46%) of people who had been named the executor of a will were not aware they had been chosen
• According to Cambridge Trust, over half (52%) of people don’t know where their parents store their estate planning documents.
• Almost two-thirds (64%) of people who left a gift to charity in their will did not inform the charity they were doing so. Additionally, nearly half (47%) said it never occurred to them to inform the charity about the gift. 

Advisor-client relationships

Unfortunately, many people aren’t getting what they want from their financial advisor or planning pro. 

• According to Spectrem Group, 93% of people want estate planning services from their financial advisor but only 22% are actually getting that advice.
• Less than a third of Millennials who work with an advisor feel their advisor takes the time to get to know them. (Accenture)
• Fifty-seven percent (57%) of Millennials think their advisor is only motivated to make money for themselves and their employer. (Accenture)
• Sixteen percent (16%) of people who have a trust, will, or estate plan created it without consulting a professional. 
• When asked what would most influence them to hire an advisor, 37% of people say being offered easy-to-understand visuals about their estate plan would be a deciding factor.

For more estate planning facts and figures, download Vanilla’s State of Estate Planning report here, or visit our homepage to learn more about Vanilla’s estate planning software.