Will Making & Charitable Legacies

A Report Prepared For Mylegacy.ie

September 2012

Research Methodology

3

Research Methodology

• This report outlines the findings of a series of questions included in the Amárach Research Omnibus on behalf of Mylegacy.ie.

• The questions focused on the incidence of making a will and likelihood of making a will within the next 5 years (among those who have not yet made one).

• Other key questions focused on:– The likelihood to update or change a current will, – Likelihood to make a charitable donation when making a will, – Family levels of comfort with the possibility that a respondent might

leave a portion of their estate (e.g. 10%) to charity and – Key factors that would motivate a respondent when making a

decision about of leaving a legacy to charity.

• Where possible, comparisons were made to results of a similar survey undertaken by Amárach Research in May 2006.

4

Research Methodology

• The Amárach Research Omnibus is an online syndicated service that allows a number of clients to concurrently include questions on a survey questionnaire.

• The Omnibus targets a total sample of 1000 respondents 16 years of age or older; with quotas weighted to achieve a demographically representative sample.

• The margin of error/confidence interval at 95% is +/- 3.1 percentage points

– This means that there is a 95% chance that two identical surveys undertaken at the same time and with similar people will vary upwards or downward by 3.1% points when answers are in and around 50%.

• Research was conducted between August 1st and 20th, 2012

MAIN FINDINGS

6

Key Findings (I)

• Little has changed in terms of the proportion of Irish people having made a will compared to 6 years ago. Just one-third of the population currently has a will.

– That said, 7-in-10 of those with a will are over the age of 45. This is consistent with previous findings and indicates that forward planning begins around middle age.

– One in two (51%) of those between the ages of 45 and 64 have a will and this proportion increases to 4-in-5 (82%) among those over the age of 65.

• Men are 6 percentage points more likely than women to have made a will, with just over half of all wills made having been made by a man (53%).

• Those in higher socio-economic groups are more likely to have made a will (37%) than those in lower socio-economic groups (30%):

– This compares to an overall norm of 34%.

7

Key Findings (I)

• 43% of those who have made a will intend to update or change it within the next 5 years.

– This is higher among men (47%) than it is among women (39%).– And decreases with age; falling to 38% among those over the age of

65.

• Two in every 5 of those who have not yet made a will (44%) intend to do so within the next 5 years and this rises to 68% among those who are between the ages of 45 and 64. This figure falls back to 57% among those over the age of 65.

– The 45-64 year old age group is a prime target for messaging around proactivity in ‘putting affairs in order’

8

Key Findings (II)

• Three-in-ten (31%) are likely to make a donation to charity in their will; this marks a notable increase (of just over 100%) in this finding since 2006 …

– It applies equally to men (30%) and women (32%)– And is highest among younger 18-24 year old respondents.– Findings suggest that those between the ages of 45 and 64 are least

likely to consider making a donation to charity in their will at this stage in their lives (26%).

• This said, just 2-in-5 (39%) Irish people believe that their families would be comfortable (i.e. they ‘very strongly’ or ‘somewhat strongly’ agree that family would be comfortable) with them leaving a portion of their estate (e.g. 10%) to charity.

– This figure jumps to 68% (saying family would be comfortable) among those who would consider a charitable donation in their will (31%) ….

– And suggests that those who are charitable by nature trust that their family will understand their wishes or will share their ethos of charity giving.

9

Key Findings (II)

• In decreasing order, the key motivations when considering leaving a legacy to charity are:

– That a family member had an illness associated with a particular charity ( 44%)

– The availability of money to donate (35%)– Believe and support of a charity’s ethos (34%)– Personal experience with a charity (i.e. a associate illness) (33%)

10

Incidence of Will Making in Ireland (I)(Base: All Adults aged 18+ - 1000)

%

TOTAL

47

3

31

52

26

22

47

54

17 17

34

66

53

1

30No

Yes

% % % %

Gender Age RegionSocial Class

Female

Male

18-24

25-44

45-64

Dublin

ROL

Munster

Conn/ Ulster

ABC1

C2DE

(30)

(70)

(44)

(56)

(1)

(29)

(50)

(33)

(19)

(28)

(20)

(59)

(41)

Q. Have you made a will?() = represent findings from May 2006

65+

(20)F

11

15-1425-4445-6465+

DublinROIMunsterConn/Ulster

ABC1C2DEF*

9478

4918

6273

6369

7085

-85

622

5182

3827

3731

3730

15

No Yes

Incidence of Will Making in Ireland (II)

(Base: All Adults aged 18+ - 1000)

Q. Have you made a will?() = represent findings from May 2006

Caution: Extremely small base*

12

Likelihood of Making a Will Within 5 Years

(Base: Those who have not yet made a will - 664)

TOTAL

20 24

5

19

41

4921

10

26

278

1010

11

1512

20

13

11825 26 25

49

25

6 9

22

22 23

99

1110

14

Male Female 18-24 25-44 45-64 65+

Very likely (1)

% % % %

Gender Age

Q. How likely is it that you will make a will in the next five years?* New question in 2012

Not at all likely (5)

(2)

(4)

Neither/nor (3)

%%

Don’t know 8 6 6 8 67

%

17

**

Caution: Extremely small base**

13

Likelihood of Changing/Updating Will in Next 5 Years*

(Base: Those who have made a will - 336)

TOTAL

22 17 1826

18 14

25 27 1925

24

14

7

14

21

36 1816

17

24 2228

920

26 29

19

2422

910

1411

18

Male Female 18-24 25-44 45-64 65+

Very likely (1)

% % % %

Gender Age

Q. How likely is it that you will change/update your will in the next five years?* New question in 2012

Not at all likely (5)

(2)

(4)

Neither/nor (3)

%%

Don’t know 4 6 9 2 54

–

**

Caution: Extremely small base**

%

7

14

Likelihood of Making a Donation to Charity in Will (I)

TOTAL

10 9 14 9 8 6

20

27

2318 24

18 15

17

18 19

20

1521 22

25 27 2414

27 29 27

9

22 23

1517

1717

18

Male Female 18-24 25-44 45-64 65+

Very likely (1)

% % % %

Gender Age

Not at all likely (5)

(2)

(4)

Neither/nor (3)

%%

Don’t know 7 9 8 8 68

(Base: All Adults aged 18+ - 1000)

Q. On a scale of 1 to 5 where 1 is very likely and 5 is very likely what is the likelihood that you would consider leaving a donation to charity in your will?

() = represent findings from May 2006

(3)

(12)

(11)

(18)

(28) (31)

(19)

(10)

(10)

(3) (3)

(2)

(3) (4)

(12)(19)

(5)

(13)

(12)

(17)

(24)

(30)

(10)

(11)

(11)

(18)

(26) (27)

(21)

(11)

9

%(4)

(25)

(23)

(18)

(11)

**

Caution: Extremely small base**

15

15-1425-4445-6465+

DublinROIMunsterConn/Ulster

ABC1C2DEF*

3442

5039

37484646

434540

4132

2630

21161512

342938

No Yes

(Base: All Adults aged 18+ - 1000)

Q. Have you made a will?() = represent findings from May 2006

Caution: Extremely small base*

Likelihood of Making a Donation to Charity in Will (II)

16

10 814 11 6 3

31

41

2927 31

3128

22

2429

1828 29 26

9

30 30

37332930

27

Male Female 18-24 25-44 45-64 65+

Comfort of Family if Portion of Estate Was Left to Charity*

TOTAL

Very strongly (1)

% % % %

Gender Age

Disagree strongly (5)

(2)

(4)

Neither/nor (3)

%%

Don’t know 4 4 5 2 44

(Base: All Adults aged 18+ - 1000)

Q. How strongly do you agree with the following statement “My family would be very comfortable if in my will I left for example 10% of my estate to charity”?

* New question in 2012

**

Caution: Extremely small base**

%

3

17

Key Factors Influencing Decision about Leaving a Legacy to Charity*

Series1

44

35

34

33

22

22

11

2

1

2

Family member had illness associated with charity

I had additional wealth

I believe in their cause/ethos

Personally had illness associated with charity

Want to give back after leading my life

Friend had illness associated with charity

No one else to leave money to

Nothing would influence me

Family comes first

Don’t know

(Base: All Adults aged 18+ - 1000)

GENDER

Male%

Female%

39 50

28 41

35 34

27 40

22 23

22 23

12 10

2 3

1 1

1 1

Q. What key factors would influence your decision about leaving a legacy to charity?* New question in 2012

AGE

15-24%

25-44%

45-64%

65+%

55 44 41 32

38 33 37 25

50 34 27 34

48 35 26 25

32 25 16 19

41 25 12 9

14 11 9 15

1 1 3 2

1 - 1 3

1 1 1 1

Section C: Profile of Sample

19

B. Profile of Sample

(Base: All Adults aged 18+ - 1005)

Female

% % % %

Male

18-24

35-44

45-54

55+

Dublin

Rest of Leinster

Munster

Conn/Ulster

ABC1/F50+

C2DE/F50-

Gender Region

Findings were weighted to reflect nationally representative demographics and reflect national thoughts, feelings and perceptions.

Social Class

Age

25-34

1728

4822

52

19

2816

1826

49

27

51