[Explanation] Recently, some media reported that a 30-year-old unmarried woman made a will for herself, which caused widespread heated discussions.
Today, more and more people are aware of the importance of making a living will.
According to statistics, the number of neutral wills among young people is increasing year by year.
In this regard, a reporter from China News Agency came to the Shanghai Second Service Center of China Wills and Testaments in Jing'an District, Shanghai for an in-depth understanding.
[Concurrent] Huang Haibo, head of the Shanghai area of China Wills and Testaments
People are now paying more and more attention to family property management and family relationships.
The awareness of the protection of wills and the protection of property is getting stronger and stronger, so it tends to be younger.
Our China Wills and Wills Bank has been established for more than 9 years. At that time, the age of making a will was 87 years old. Through these years of hard work, it has now dropped to 67 years old, and there has been a great progress.
This is a development trend of our entire society, and everyone's legal awareness has become stronger.
[Explanation] According to the "2021 China Wills and Testaments White Paper", by the end of 2021, the total number of wills of the "post-90s" will reach 1,204.
Compared with 2020, it has increased by 80%.
Compared with other groups, "virtual property" has become a prominent feature in the wills of "post-00s" and "post-90s".
[Concurrent] Huang Haibo, head of the Shanghai area of China Wills and Testaments
So now there are many young groups to make wills, and there are also many "post-90s" and "post-00s".
The younger we are, the more our society is changing.
Then their property may be small, but there is a reasonable arrangement.
For example, there are some virtual properties, and even some game accounts.
[Explanation] China's "Civil Code" stipulates that there are two ways of inheritance.
The first is testamentary succession and the second is statutory succession.
Zhang Lan, a lawyer from Shanghai Wanda Law Firm, said that a valid will can not only clarify the ownership of property, but also effectively avoid family conflicts.
[Concurrent] Zhang Lan, lawyer of Shanghai Wanda Law Firm
Now the new Civil Code is about inheritance: one is statutory inheritance and the other is testamentary inheritance.
If a person does not have a will, it is generally inherited by law.
A valid will will make the ownership of property clear, and it will respect the wishes of the deceased.
There is a valid will that is recognized by the court, or recognized by the notary office, or finally executed by the real estate transaction center, which will keep family conflicts in the bud.
[Explanation] Although the phenomenon of young people making wills and the younger average age of making wills, it reflects that the awareness of wills has improved compared with the past.
However, most people still lack a correct understanding of wills, and the popularization of relevant knowledge still has a long way to go.
[Concurrent] Huang Haibo, head of the Shanghai area of China Wills and Testaments
Now, although some citizens, including many young people, have begun to have the awareness of making a will.
But for our society as a whole, this awareness of making a will is still insufficient.
95% of the Chinese people do not know why they want to make a will, and they also lack legal knowledge in this regard.
In some developed countries abroad, the average age of making a will is 33 years old, and we are only 67 years old now, and the gap is still relatively large.
So making a will has nothing to do with age. It has nothing to do with whether we have property or who we want to give our property to.
So what does the law say?
Anyone who is 18 or 16 years old and has independent financial resources can write a will.
Many people still do not understand the risks of not making a will, and some people are even more taboo.
This still requires the joint efforts of all of us to promote the construction of the legal system of our whole society.
Let everyone understand that a will is actually a legal tool. Only by using legal tools can you truly protect your hard-earned property.
Zhou Yang reports from Shanghai
Responsible editor: [Ji Xiang]