Center meets increased interest in wills from young

The Shanghai branch of the China Will Registration Center has had a surge of inquiries during the COVID-19 resurgence with many inquiries from the young, the center revealed on Saturday.

A young man of the post-2000 generation rang the Shanghai No. 2 service center in Jing'an District during the resurgence.

"When will you reopen? I want to register a will," Zhang Yi (pseudonym), 22, asked eagerly.

"The call left a deep impression on me," Hu Fang, director of the Shanghai center, recalled.

Zhang said the "unexpected COVID-19 resurgence and the sudden death of one of his family members made him rethink the meaning of life.

"Tomorrow and the unexpected, you never know which one will come first. I want to plan my inheritance early."

One year ago, Zhang's elder sister's husband died in an accident, leaving real estate, deposits and a game account of high value.

However, because he did not register a will, Zhang's sister's inheritance was not guaranteed and unnecessary disputes arose, said Zhang.

"I want to prevent family disputes and ensure that my sister's life is guaranteed," he explained his act.

During the COVID-19 resurgence, the Shanghai No. 2 service center received about 40 calls from local residents on average daily, compared with 10-15 before the resurgence.

In another call, a resident surnamed Li said the failure of a previous marriage made him realize the importance of pre-arrangement of property.

Li said property dismemberment led to unpleasant experience between him and his ex-wife, thus he sought to register a will after he remarried.

Over the past three years, the COVID-19 pandemic and unexpected accidents have prompted people to consider registering a will, although these were not decisive factors, the Shanghai service center said.

Established in late May 2019, it has registered about 12,500 wills.

An increasing number of people are aware of will registration and are considering their after-life matters, the center said.

People registering wills in China are getting younger, and more than 200 will registrants between 2020 and 2021 were born after 2000, according to a white paper released by the China Will Registration Center earlier.

The number of will registrants has continued to increase in recent years, growing 7.7 percent last year from a year earlier, and 20.8 percent from 2019.

Between 2020 and 2021, 223 people born after 2000 registered wills, with bank deposits and virtual property mainly involved, according to the center.

The majority of them were university students aged between 18 and 20 years old, with bank deposits their main property.

In Shanghai, 292 people and 29 people who registered wills over the past five years are post-1990 and post-2000 generations respectively, with will content mainly involving immovable property and bank deposits.