People have been urged to overcome their fear of their own mortality and prepare a will to avoid losing control of what happens to their assets when they die.

Two out of three people either do not have a will, or have one which is out of date, according to research by Will Aid, a charity scheme that allows people to get a will written for free, in exchange for a suggested donation that is divided between a group of charities.

Having no up-to-date will risks the possibility that money, property and other assets will end up belonging to the crown which, in the last tax year, took in almost £13m after people died without one and had no one to inherit.

Solicitor Nick Hall, a partner at London-based firm Gunnercooke, says that even if you have a family to inherit your money, without a will you lose control, as the law then dictates where it goes. “It’s like having a boat but no one’s steering it,” he says.

The good news is that a “basic” version can be drawn up for free, or at a low cost, because of initiatives set up to benefit charities which rely heavily on donations made in wills to operate.

Why do so many not have one?

A will dictates who gets your assets when you die, and not having one can cause significant problems for your family. Even though there has been a rise in the number of people making wills since the pandemic, there are still many who have not.

Figures from Will Aid show that 56% of people have not made one and, of the 11% that have, the document is out of date.

Richard Millar, organiser of Free Wills Month, says people tend to leave the writing of the will on a “to-do list”.

“It’s not an exciting thing. There is obviously an element of thinking about your own mortality which we’re not particularly good at engaging in in the UK,” he says.

Hall says the pandemic sparked a rise in the number of people getting wills written or revisiting existing instructions to ensure they still reflect what they want to happen to their money.

Peter de Vena Franks, Will Aid’s campaign director, says more than a quarter of people feel that they do not have anything worth leaving, according to its research.

But, as he advises, that is not the way to look at it. “It’s not just about how many assets and what assets you have,” he says. “Having somebody pass away is a really stressful time anyway, and not knowing what that person wanted in terms of their funeral wishes, their record collection, for instance, and some of their stuff which may not have value, just adds a huge amount of extra stress at what is clearly an awful time.”

What happens without a will?

The rules of intestacy kick in and dictate who benefits from your estate. Only married or civil partners, children of the deceased, and then other relatives, can benefit in these circumstances. Nothing will go to friends or charities.

In England and Wales, the surviving husband, wife or civil partner keeps the assets – including property – up to the value of £322,000. The rest is split between them and the deceased’s children.

If there is no partner and no children, the estate may be inherited by parents, brothers, sisters and other relatives .

If there is no family to pass the money on to, the estate is passed to the crown as bona vacantia, or “ownerless assets”.

In the last tax year, Treasury solicitor Susanna McGibbon – the government’s most senior legal official – reported income of £12.8m from estates where someone died without a will or relatives to inherit the money. The Treasury solicitor deals with cases in England and Wales but not the Duchies of Cornwall (dealt with by lawyers for Prince William) or Lancaster (by the king).

Why should I get one now?

March, October and November are the three months when you can get a “basic” will written for free. Some charities, such as Cancer Research UK and the Stroke Association, also run free will-writing services in the hope that people will leave them some money.

Free Wills Month runs in March and October and allows people over the age of 55 to have a simple will written through a network of participating solicitors.

Millar says that funds from wills make up a very significant part of the operating costs of many charities. “For some it is as much as three quarters of their income,” he says.

Will Aid is in November for anyone over the age of 18. Participating solicitors will write a basic will for a voluntary donation – a suggested £100 for a single will or £180 for a pair of “mirror wills”, which are typically between couples and say the same thing about the assets.

Outside the “free” months you can expect to pay between £250 and £350, says Hall.

Charities such as Age UK, British Red Cross, Christian Aid, NSPCC, Save the Children, SCIAF and Trócaire benefit from the donations.

A “basic” will is one where there are a small number of beneficiaries. It can state who the guardians of any young children would be on the death of their parents, and include donations to charity, says De Vena Franks. What it does not cover is if a trust needs to be set up, or if there is a very substantial estate.

But I already have one …

It is important to keep it updated, especially if there is a change in your personal circumstances. This could be is someone who is named in the will dies, if you have children or grandchildren, or if you get married or divorced.

Hall says: “If you get divorced, it doesn’t destroy your will, but it treats your spouse as having died, so the next clause in your will comes in to effect, and that may not be what you want.”