Estate Planning
Estate Planning
A national survey found most Americans say a will matters, yet only 4 in 10 actually have one. Here's what the numbers reveal and how families can close that gap.
Most people agree a will matters. Far fewer actually have one. A 2019 Caring.com survey of 1,003 U.S. adults, conducted with research firm SSRS, found that 57 percent lack any estate planning documents at all, even though 51 percent call a will or living trust "very important" and 53 percent have already talked with a loved one about needing one. That gap between belief and action shows up across every age group, income level, and education bracket, but it's especially stark among younger adults. This article walks through what the survey actually found, why so many families postpone this paperwork, and what a realistic first step looks like for households who know they're behind but haven't known where to start. The survey was fielded by phone and online panel in early 2019, sampling adults across income brackets, regions, and household types to produce a nationally representative snapshot of estate-planning behavior in the United States.
A 2019 survey found 57% of U.S. adults have no will or living trust, despite most agreeing it's important. Millennials lag furthest behind, though the gap has narrowed since 2017. Education and age both shape who actually gets it done.
Caring.com's 2019 Wills and Living Trust Survey asked 1,003 U.S. adults whether they had estate planning documents in place and, if not, why not. The headline finding was blunt: 57 percent of respondents had no will or living trust, meaning only about 4 in 10 Americans had done any long-term estate planning at all, despite widespread agreement that it matters.
The disconnect wasn't about awareness. Fifty-one percent of respondents said having a will or living trust is "very important," and 53 percent said they'd already talked with a loved one about personally needing one. Knowing it matters and actually drafting the paperwork turned out to be two very different steps, and most people never took the second one. That disconnect held true even among respondents who described themselves as financially comfortable, suggesting the delay isn't purely a matter of not having assets worth protecting.
The survey's most telling finding wasn't the raw percentage without a will — it was the size of the gap between intention and action. More than half of respondents had discussed estate planning with a family member, and just over half believed it was very important. Yet only 40 percent had converted that belief into an actual signed document.
That gap suggests the barrier isn't ignorance about why estate planning matters. It's follow-through. Families talk about needing a will the way they talk about needing to update a budget or clean out the garage — as something acknowledged, intended, and then quietly pushed to next month, then next year.
Age was one of the strongest predictors in the data. Sixty-six percent of adults 65 and older had a will or living trust, and 65 percent of that same group said a long-term estate plan was very important. Sixty-three percent of adults 55 and older had already discussed estate planning with a loved one.
Younger adults told a different story. Only 36 percent of 18- to 34-year-olds believed a long-term estate plan was very important, and just 36 percent had discussed it with family. The middle years weren't much better: 62 percent of 35- to 44-year-olds and 60 percent of 45- to 54-year-olds still had no will or living trust in place, despite many in that range already raising children or caring for aging parents. That gap suggests life milestones — marriage, buying a home, having children, watching a parent age — tend to trigger estate planning more reliably than birthdays alone.
| Document | What It Covers | When Families Use It |
|---|---|---|
| Will | Who inherits assets, who raises minor children | Baseline document for nearly every adult |
| Living Trust | Manages and transfers assets, often avoiding probate | Larger or complex estates, blended families |
| Power of Attorney | Names someone to handle finances if you can't | Anyone planning for possible incapacity |
| Advance Directive | States medical wishes if you can't communicate them | Paired with a will for full protection |
Education level tracked closely with whether someone had a will. Among adults with a high school education or less, only 28 percent had a will or living trust. That figure rose to 39 percent for those with a bachelor's degree, and jumped to 58 percent — roughly double the least-educated group — among those with a postgraduate degree.
The pattern likely reflects both familiarity with legal processes and access to resources like attorneys or paid planning services. Estate planning can feel like a specialized, expensive undertaking, and that perception itself becomes a barrier for adults who've had less exposure to legal or financial planning systems. Even a simple, low-cost will template can close much of that education-linked gap, since the legal requirements for a valid will don't change based on estate size or complexity, only the paperwork's thoroughness does.
When asked directly why they hadn't set up a will, the single most common answer was simple: they "just hadn't gotten around to it." No dramatic objection, just ordinary procrastination winning out over an unpleasant task with no deadline attached.
Other reasons followed a predictable pattern. About 1 in 5 respondents said they didn't think they had enough assets to justify a will. Six percent said the process seemed too expensive, and another 6 percent said they simply didn't know how to begin. Estate and elder-law attorney Michael Hackard compared the avoidance to other well-known but ignored health habits, noting that most people admit fast food is bad for them yet still eat it regularly, and most know flossing matters yet only about a third do it daily.
Millennials remained the age group least likely to have a will, with 79 percent reporting they had none in 2019. But that number was moving in the right direction: Caring.com's 2017 survey had found 87 percent of millennials lacked a will, meaning the share without one had dropped eight percentage points in two years.
That shift suggests younger adults are gradually recognizing the value of planning ahead, even if most still haven't acted on it. Hackard pointed to financial strain as part of the explanation, noting that a large share of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, which makes a task with no immediate deadline easy to deprioritize against bills that are due now. Hackard's broader point was that financial pressure competes directly with long-term planning: when a paycheck barely covers rent, groceries, and debt payments, a legal document with no due date is easy to keep postponing.
For families reading these numbers and recognizing themselves in them, the survey's real lesson isn't that estate planning is complicated — it's that the gap between intending to plan and actually doing it is where most people get stuck. Talking about a will, as more than half of respondents did, is a meaningful first step, but it isn't the same as having one.
Adult children helping aging parents, or parents planning for their own children, often benefit from treating the will as one piece of a broader conversation that also covers a living trust if assets warrant it, a durable power of attorney, and a healthcare directive. None of these require deep pockets to start; many states offer low-cost or free legal aid clinics for exactly this purpose. Many attorneys who work with aging families also recommend revisiting these documents every few years, since a will drafted before a divorce, a new grandchild, or a major asset purchase may no longer reflect what someone actually wants.
Most Americans believe a will matters, yet fewer than half have one. The survey shows the barrier isn't awareness — it's follow-through. Naming a single next document to draft this month closes the gap faster than waiting for the "right" time.
The 2019 Caring.com survey makes one thing clear: Americans don't lack awareness about estate planning, they lack follow-through. Fifty-seven percent have no will or living trust despite most agreeing it's important, and the gap is worst among younger and less-educated adults. Age, education, and financial pressure all shape who actually finishes the paperwork. For families, the practical takeaway isn't to feel behind — it's to convert one already-had conversation into one signed document, starting with whichever single piece, a will, a power of attorney, or a healthcare directive, is missing first. Waiting for a health crisis to force the issue rarely ends well, since incapacity can make it legally impossible to sign these documents at all.
If a parent or spouse has no will, no named power of attorney, and no healthcare directive, don't wait for a health crisis to force the issue. A sudden hospitalization or diagnosis of cognitive decline can make it legally impossible to sign these documents, so treat any of these gaps as reason to act within weeks, not years.