Wills or No Wills? A Case Study in Taiwan

Abstract

In the estate planning context, wills are the most commonly used tool to establish specific instructions to transfer wealth to beneficiary by using probate system, after death. Will writing enables a testator (a person who writes a will) to nominate an executor (a preferred and willing person) to manage and distribute the property of es-tate, according to the deceased's wishes. Hence, the objective of this study is to investigate the determinants that contribute to the intention in wills writing in Taiwan. The data obtained from a total of 392 questionnaires were ana-lyzed using PLS-SEM 3.2 version. The results indicated knowledge, family influence and perceived cost are the im-portant elements to influence attitude towards intention in will writing. The findings from this study will help finan-cial planner to design a more pertinent and cost effective will writing. This study also will provide insight to the government of Taiwan to provide better consultation services to citizens and establish a better e-system to simplify the will writing process.