With Financial Awareness Day on 14 August Royal London is warning that too many UK homeowners risk leaving their most valuable asset open to fraud if they die without a will.
Figures from the Money and Pensions Service show over half (53%) of UK adults aged 50–64 and 22% of those aged 65+ don’t have a will.
And for anyone with a mortgage, that’s not just a legal gap it’s a potential financial disaster.
In a rising property market, even modest homes can be worth hundreds of thousands making them prime targets for fraud.
If a borrower dies intestate, their property could pass according to rigid rules that don’t recognise unmarried partners and may bypass intended beneficiaries entirely.
UNCLAIMED ESTATES
And Clare Moffat (main picture), finance expert at Royal London, warns that criminals are increasingly targeting “unclaimed estates,” exploiting gaps in paperwork to fraudulently claim ownership.
She said: “Making assumptions about who will benefit from your estate can lead to issues such as the wrong version of the will being relied upon, your entire estate going to the Crown – or worse – it going to a fraudster.”
For brokers it’s an opportunity to add value beyond the mortgage by flagging will-writing as part of a broader protection conversation.
Not only does it safeguard the home for intended beneficiaries but it can also protect the lender’s security from protracted legal disputes.
TOP TIPS FOR CLIENTS
- Write a will as soon as you purchase a property.
- Update it after life events such as marriage, divorce, or having children.
- Make provisions if cohabiting – unmarried partners have no automatic rights.
- Store it securely and tell executors where to find it.
- Nominate pension beneficiaries separately.
