Will-making is accepted by people of different ages. Some "post-90s" wills involve virtual property

From 2017 to 2023, the number of "post-80s" people who made wills in the China Will Database increased by 21.5 times, and the number of "post-90s" people who made wills increased by 11.2 times. Some "post-90s" wills involve virtual property

Will making is accepted by people of different ages

　　Our reporter Yang Zhaokui

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　　The "China Will Library White Paper" shows that the number of young and middle-aged people making wills in the China Will Library is also increasing, and wills are being accepted by more young groups.

　　"Post-95s" Xiao Hu's parents divorced when he was young. Although the court ruled that he was raised by his father, it was his grandparents who mainly accompanied him when he grew up. Many years later, his father and grandparents who loved him passed away one after another. Later, Xiao Hu relied on his own efforts to get admitted to a graduate school in a university in Beijing. During the learning process, the teachers and classmates at the school gave Xiao Hu a lot of help, which moved him very much. Now Xiao Hu has successfully entered the work of a large enterprise. He believes that his development is inseparable from the training of his alma mater. Therefore, before the Spring Festival this year, he came to the Chinese Wills Library and made a will to donate all his property to his alma mater for free.

　　Xiao Lin, a "post-95s generation", has a cute Garfield cat, but his parents do not support him raising a cat. For this reason, he could only foster his beloved Garfield cat at a friend's house and ask his friend to take care of it. Recently, he also made a will and decided to entrust a friend to be the administrator of his estate. After his death, he asked his friend to use his estate to take care of the kitten for the rest of his life.

　　Nowadays, more and more young people like Xiao Hu and Xiao Lin make wills. Recently, the China Will Library released the 2023 "China Will Library White Paper". The white paper shows that the number of young and middle-aged people making wills in the China Will Database is also increasing, and wills are being accepted by more young groups.

The trend of younger testators is obvious

　　The white paper compares the average age of testators collected over the years and finds that the average age of people who make wills continues to decline. According to the white paper data released this year, the average age of testators has dropped from 77.43 years old in 2018 to 67.82 years old in 2023. The trend of younger people making wills is very obvious.

　　At the same time, wills are being accepted by more young people. Data show that from 2017 to 2023, the number of people born in the 1980s who made wills on the China Will Database increased by 21.5 times, and the number of people born in the 1990s who made wills increased by 11.2 times. Similarly, the number of "post-00s" making wills is also rising. According to white paper statistics, a total of 167 "post-00s" made wills in the China Will Library in 2023. Compared with 2020, the growth rate reached 24.62%.

　　Liu Qian, a will consultant at the China Will Bank, told reporters: "In the past, everyone thought that making a will was a matter for the elderly, and young people were very taboo about it. But now young people's ideas have changed, and they have a more rational attitude towards issues of life and death. So acceptance of wills is increasing.”

　　According to reports, since the China Will Database launched the WeChat will-making service in March 2020, as of December 31, 2023, the China Will Database has received a total of 97,347 WeChat wills. According to statistics, most young people make “WeChat wills”. Among them, those under 20 years old accounted for 26.06%, those between 20 and 29 years old accounted for 35.04%, and those between 30 and 39 years old accounted for 22.44%.

　　Chen Kai, founder of China Will Database, said that the "WeChat Will" service aims to provide people with a platform to convey love. Through "WeChat Will", people can express their most sincere gratitude and blessings to their loved ones, and also express their most sincere entrustments and expectations. Although the contents of these wills do not have legal effect, they are a way of expressing emotions and a form of life education, so they are very popular among young people.

Will involves virtual property

　　In early 2023, Xiao Yi, a "post-90s" blogger, took the initiative to contact the China Will Database. With one million fans, she decided to leave the virtual property worth 3 million yuan in her account to her parents for inheritance, while her Internet account with one million fans will be left to her parents. Operate for friends.

　　"With the in-depth popularization and development of the Internet, virtual property has gradually become an indispensable part of many people's lives. When making a will, including virtual property and making reasonable distribution has become the choice of more and more people." Chen Kai said.

　　The white paper shows that since 2017, more and more young and middle-aged people have begun to make wills. In the wills of this group, virtual properties are increasingly disposed of, including various social platform accounts, virtual currencies, and games. As of December 31 last year, the China Will Library had received a total of 488 wills involving virtual property.

　　Specifically, in the wills of those born in the 1980s, the main properties involved are real estate and bank deposits. In the wills of those born in the 1990s, many virtual properties were included. By those born in the 2000s, the main properties disposed of in the wills were bank deposits. Mainly deposits and virtual properties.

　　Long Yifei, a professor at the Law School of Renmin University of China, said that Article 127 of the Civil Code stipulates that “if the law has provisions for the protection of data and network virtual property, those provisions shall prevail.”

Wills have different wishes at different ages

　　"When young people consider making a will, the most common opening statement is: they have seen and heard many unexpected situations happening around them, so it is necessary to make a will in advance to prevent risks." Liu Qian said.

　　The white paper shows that there is little difference in the types of reasons given by young and middle-aged people for making wills and those given by people over 60 years old. But for young people, there are big differences in family structures corresponding to different age groups. For young people under the age of 30, "preventing the whereabouts of property from being lost" is the main risk they consider. As the testator grows older, the two reasons of "isolating the risk of his own marriage" and "isolating the risk of the marriage of his children" gradually become more important in the eyes of the testator.

　　Corresponding to the reason for making a will is the testator's willingness to distribute property. The willingness of young and middle-aged people to make a will shows great differences in different age groups. Most people under the age of 30 who make wills are unmarried or in the stage of starting a new family, so they prefer their parents to inherit property. When the testator gets married, the proportion of children or spouses chosen to inherit will gradually increase.

　　In addition, some young people make wills to express their love. After the National Day holiday in 2023, Liu Qian received a young man born in the 1990s. "This young man said he hoped to get the will certificate before October 25 of that year. It turned out that that day was his girlfriend's birthday. He hoped to give this to his girlfriend as a birthday gift and propose to his girlfriend on that day." Liu Qian Said, in fact, the young man's inheritance is not much, and it mainly involves personal accounts on multiple Internet platforms, but this is a way for the young man to express his love.

　　"Worker Daily" (page 03, April 6, 2024)