{"id":722379,"date":"2026-08-01T07:29:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T07:29:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/722379\/"},"modified":"2026-08-01T07:29:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T07:29:17","slug":"number-of-millionaires-dying-without-a-will-doubles-in-two-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/722379\/","title":{"rendered":"Number of millionaires dying without a will doubles in two years"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Mark Chandler, of financial advice firm Shackleton, said: \u201cFiscal drag has steadily brought more families into scope, with the standard nil-rate band having been frozen for many years despite significant growth in property prices.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But rising property prices were \u201conly part of the story\u201d, he added.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Chandler said: \u201cWe continue to see a surprising number of people with substantial wealth who have never made a will.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome people dislike dealing with solicitors, some don\u2019t like talking about death, some find discussions around family arrangements uncomfortable, and many simply never get around to doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jamie Mathieson, of law firm JMW, added: \u201cLarger estates often have a foreign element and individuals coming to the UK to live with assets often understandably do not understand the laws in the UK regarding death and intestacy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Excluding tax, drafting a will in Britain generally costs between \u00a3750 and \u00a31,500, and <a class=\"ck-custom-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/money\/probate\/funerals\/grieving-families-hit-with-75pc-rise-in-probate-fees\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">probate fees after death<\/a> can total between \u00a33,000 and \u00a35,000 in straightforward cases.<\/p>\n<p>On the other hand, an estate left without a will can ultimately cost upwards of \u00a310,000 to untangle.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Chandler said: \u201cWith larger estates in particular, identifying the right people to act can take considerable time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere inheritance tax is due, those delays can become expensive. Interest can accrue on outstanding liabilities, while professional costs and financing costs can further reduce the value ultimately passed to beneficiaries.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe reality is that having a valid will in place is almost always preferable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: \u201cMaking a will is one of the most important steps people can take to protect their families and ensure their wishes are respected.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Probate Service deals with estates of all sizes and complexities and we do everything in our power to ensure this work happens quickly and effectively.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mark Chandler, of financial advice firm Shackleton, said: \u201cFiscal drag has steadily brought more families into scope, with&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":722380,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[84,4176,118596,10429,2222,4174,4175,5438,56,54,55,5841,217096,2932],"class_list":["post-722379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-business","tag-finance","tag-financial-planning-for-retirement","tag-inheritance-tax","tag-money","tag-personal-finance","tag-personalfinance","tag-standard","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-wills","tag-your-family","tag-your-money"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/722379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=722379"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/722379\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/722380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=722379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=722379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=722379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}