Can incentives increase the writing of wills?

Abstract

The brief's key findings are: (1) Writing a will ensures a person's wealth goes to intended recipients, preventing major assets like a house from being split up among many heirs. (2) Yet many people do not have a will, particularly lower-income and non-White households. (3) Using a survey experiment, the analysis explores whether customer interactions with banks could encourage will-writing. (4) The results show that: (a) combining will-writing with taking out a mortgage -- a complex and stressful event -- is a bad idea; (b) offering people money helps, but mainly those who need it the least; and (c) linking will-writing to a simpler task, like opening an account, is a much more effective option, especially for disadvantaged groups.