A new Nationwide Retirement Institute® survey finds 71% of millennial parents currently do not have a will. Of those that do have a will, the COVID-19 pandemic was the second most common reason for creating one (39%), along with having new children (40%) and getting married (38%).

According to the survey of 500 millennial parents (26 to 40 years old) conducted between December 11 – December 15, 2020 by Edelman Data and Intelligence, millennial moms are more likely to indicate having children (47% v. 33%) as their biggest trigger for creating a will, while millennial dads are more likely to point to the COVID-19 pandemic and associated death rates (51% v. 26%) as their main reason for creating a will. 

"The pandemic is causing many millennial parents to feel a sense of urgency to prioritize their health and financial plans – including making sure their family is protected," said Holly Snyder, president of Nationwide's life insurance business. "One of the greatest gifts you can give your children is having a will in place."

To help Americans protect what's most important, Nationwide has partnered with digital estate planning platform FreeWill to offer a free online tool for creating a will.

Barriers to creating a will

So why do so many millennial parents not have a will? The biggest barriers to creating one are uncertainty around how to create one and misconceptions about why they are needed. Among those who don't have a will, 30% of millennial parents agree they don't know enough about wills, don't know where to go to start one (29%) and feel they are too healthy (26%) or too young (21%) to need one.

Millennial moms are more likely than millennial dads to both have a will (35% v. 24%) and to answer correctly questions related to coverage. Interestingly, millennial dads are more likely to feel they are too young (27% v. 10%) and too healthy to create a will (33% v. 15%) than their female counterparts.

"A third of millennial parents believe a will is only for people who have children and 61% believe that an attorney is required to prepare a will," Snyder said. "The reality is a will is important for all adults – no matter your age, health or if you have children – and you do not need an attorney to prepare one."

Resources for creating a will

The good news is millennial parents are open to creating a will with the right resources. More than four in five say they would create a will if they could do it easily online (84%) and that they would use a free tool to help create a will if it was made available to them (82%).

In partnership with FreeWill, Nationwide is offering a free online tool for creating a will that is open to the public. Anyone can go to https://www.freewill.com/nationwide to create a will in about 20 minutes.

"Our survey reveals 17% of millennial parents think that it takes a week or more to prepare a will," Snyder said. "In reality, creating a will is quick and easy. Using Nationwide's online tool, created in partnership with FreeWill – just fill out the information, print out the forms and sign the forms with witnesses to make it official."

Methodology:

Edelman Data and Intelligence (DxI) conducted the online survey of 500 millennial parents (26 to 40 years old and have one or more children) with an annual household income of $75,000 or more. Fieldwork for the survey was completed between December 11^th-15^th, 2020.