In September 2014, Irish Life introduced a Will Wise Campaign and published a survey that revealed 72% of Irish adults have not made a Will, with almost half of those surveyed stating they simply “hadn’t got around to it”.

The survey also showed a majority of people were unaware of the cost of inheritance tax. Only one in ten gave the correct tax rate of 33%. This tax rate has gone up from 22% to 33% since 2008, and tax free thresholds have reduced considerably. An inheritance from parent to child had the benefit of a tax-free threshold of €521,208 in 2008. The current threshold (2014) is now only €225,000 from parent to child. Irish Life warns that, with the amount of inheritance tax paid increasing by almost 40% since 2010, this is an area that families need to plan ahead for.