Half of Australia has no will.

There is a strange contradiction at the heart of Australia's great wealth transfer. We are passing on more than ever (an estimated $3.5 trillion over the next two decades) and yet, as a nation, we have barely written any of it down.

The Australian Law Reform Commission has found that close to 60% of eligible Australians (around 12 million people) have never made a will. Surveys consistently put the figure at one in two adults. Perhaps most troubling, around 64% of Australians with young children have no will at all. We are leaving the largest financial decisions of our lives to chance; and to the courts.

What happens when there's nothing written down

Dying without a will is called dying intestate. It means the law (not you) decides who receives what, according to a rigid formula that takes no account of your relationships, your blended family, or your wishes. The estate can be tied up for months. Loved ones who depended on you can be left waiting; or left out altogether. And the people best placed to sort it all out are handed a far more complicated and costly job than they needed.

A will is necessary, but not sufficient

Here is the part that surprises even careful families: having a will is no guarantee of peace. Contested wills have risen by roughly 25% over the past decade, and lawyers estimate about one in ten now face a challenge. In New South Wales alone, family-provision claims (where a relative argues they weren't adequately provided for) grew around 10% in just four years. As estates grow larger and families grow more blended, disputes are climbing with them.

Outdated wills are a particular trap. A document that no longer reflects a new partner, a divorce, a grandchild or a sold business can cause more conflict than no will at all. And the cost isn't only financial. Contested estates routinely consume tens of thousands of dollars and many months; and far more in damaged relationships that rarely fully recover.

The real risk is the family, not the form

It's tempting to treat estate planning as a box to tick: get the will drafted, file it, move on. But the families who transfer wealth without fracturing rarely do so because their paperwork was flawless. They do it because they had the conversations first. They told their children what to expect, and why. They explained the reasoning behind an unequal split before it became a wound. They named an executor who was genuinely up to the task. The document recorded decisions that the family had already understood.

This matters all the more given who is inheriting. Around 65% of the wealth changing hands in this transfer is forecast to flow to women, often through several inheritances across a lifetime. The structures and the conversations both need to reflect the family as it actually is, not the family of decades ago.

Where to begin

A sound estate plan is more than a will. It usually includes up-to-date superannuation death-benefit nominations (super doesn't automatically pass under your will), considered use of trusts where appropriate, and an enduring power of attorney. But the most valuable document a family can produce is not legal at all: it's the shared understanding that means no one is shocked, and no one feels cheated, on the hardest day.

The instructions can be drafted in an afternoon. The understanding takes longer, and it is the part that actually protects the people you love.