Update Your Will Day

Written by Camille Howard for Australian Seniors

Worrying research highlights the gaps in estate planning among over 50s, inspiring Australian Seniors to launch a new national campaign to drive awareness of the importance of regularly reviewing your wishes.

The inaugural Update Your Will Day, taking place on the third Sunday in October, is inspired by findings from the Australian Seniors Inheritance and Retirement Report 2024. The research reveals nearly one-third (31%) of Australians over 50 are yet to create a Will, and almost half (49%) haven’t updated theirs in more than five years.

Update Your Will Day is held on 20th October to align with other national days that celebrate seniors, including Seniors Week in September, International Day of Older Persons on 1st October, and Grandparents Day on 27th October.

The campaign also includes the launch of a special Life’s Booming podcast episode: Where There’s a Will, There’s a Relative. Hosted by James Valentine, the episode features a candid conversation with keynote speaker and former The Living Room presenter Barry Du Bois, who talks about his own experience writing a Will following his cancer diagnosis, alongside Safewill CEO and founder Adam Lubofsky.

“Many Australians put off creating or updating their Wills, often because it feels like it's something that can be addressed later,” says James. “But in reality, life is unpredictable. And having a current Will is an important step to protect your family and reflect how you'd like to leave your affairs when that time comes.”

Why do we avoid creating a Will?

Surveying more than 1,200 Australians over 50, the Inheritance and Retirement Report also found the biggest barriers to creating a Will were procrastination (45%), feeling they lack sufficient assets (25%), and concerns about the cost of creating a Will (21%).

“There's a big emotional barrier to writing a Will,” Adam explains. “We actually have a lot of people come to Safewill – which is now the nation's largest Will writing platform – they'll fill out the instructions, they'll go to all the effort, and then there'll just be a barrier to them printing off and signing and completing the Wills.”

“You’re describing me!” adds James. “My wife and I have both done the Safewill thing, I've had cancer in the last year. That still hasn't made us press print and go get the damn thing signed!”

For Barry, it was his mother’s sudden death that first spurred him into action. “That was the wake-up call for me, when my mum passed. And I knew it was important that I had a Will.”

Then, in 2011, Barry found himself on the receiving end of an incurable cancer diagnosis – plasmacytoma myeloma – and told he had three months to live. “I sat before three doctors and the first one says, ‘Barry, I think you should just go home, tidy up your affairs. This is too aggressive. It's too big.’”

Although he admits to being “a lot more irrational” at the time of his diagnosis, he was glad that he tends to be a “control freak” and regularly updates his Will. “I don't want there to be any confusion if something happens,” explains Barry, who happily, after intensive treatment, has survived far longer than the initial predictions. “The morning I got cancer, I didn't know I was going to get cancer. No-one wakes you up in the morning and says, ‘Hey, listen, by the way, in seven days, you're out.’”

Leaving a legacy

A husband and father of two, Barry also uses his Will to share instructions for the future. “No-one has to have that, but that's a big part of it for me. I just want to remind people why my legacy is important. I always ask the question, if you could tell your great-great-grandchildren one piece of advice, what is it? So, I leave that piece of advice with my Will as well.”

This is a great way to frame the process, Adam says. “Not just thinking about it from a legal perspective, but also from the concept of emotional legacy, and being able to add a little bit more colour, whether it's advice for future generations, whether it's a sentimental gift.”

From a legal perspective, a Will doesn't need to be War and Peace, he adds. “It really can be a simple set of instructions, which platforms like ours can take 10 to 15 minutes.” But make sure you review it regularly, because major life events such as marriage, divorce, or the birth of grandchildren can affect their validity, Adam says. “People often wait 10 years or more before updating their Wills, which is problematic as their lives evolve. Regular review is crucial to ensure an estate plan is current, legally valid, and reflective of a person’s intentions.

I think that a lot of people think that, I don't have a vast asset holding, and therefore I'm not eligible to write a Will, or it's not worthwhile me writing a Will because I don't have a huge fortune to pass on to future generations. But really it's not about how much you own, it's about making it easier for the people who are left behind to deal with your estate,” Adam says.

“Yeah, I like that: you're not doing it for yourself, you're doing it for those you're going to leave behind, for your wife, your partner, for your children and so forth,” James adds.

“When I lay to rest, I want to know everything is in a good space,” Barry says. “The administration of your affairs is a cathartic thing. You know that you're leaving a legacy, and it's going really clearly where you want it to go.”

The Life’s Booming podcast is available now at; seniors.com.au/podcast or via Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.