Nearly Half (45%) Of Canadians Have Not Prepared A Will

Toronto, ON - According to a recent study conducted by Ipsos-Reid on behalf of Lawyers.com, nearly half (45%) of Canadian adults have not prepared a will. Only 54% of Canadians say they currently have a will.

• As one might expect, the likelihood of having a will increases with age: 18% of young adults 18-34 years old have a will, 60% of middle-aged adults 35-54 years old have a will, and 84% of Canadians 55 years of age or older have a will.

The survey also finds that half (52%) of Canadians have had a detailed discussion with their family about their final wishes and how they want them carried out, while 47% have not had this discussion.

• Similar to will preparation, Canadians at least 55 years old are mostly likely to have had a detailed discussion (69%), followed by those 35-54 years old (52%), and those 18-34 years old (35%).
• And, women are more likely to have had this discussion than are men (57% vs. 46%).

These are the findings of an Ipsos Reid/Lawyers.com poll conducted from October 4 to October 6, 2005. For the survey, a representative randomly selected sample of 1000 adult Canadians was interviewed by telephone. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within Гf??3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire adult Canadian population been polled. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population.

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For more information on this news release, please contact:
John Wright
Senior Vice President
Ipsos Reid
416.324.2900
[email protected]

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