Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T19:42:45.208Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Why Do I Need a Will Anyway? Assessing the Impact of a Public Legal Education Intervention Embedded in a Longitudinal Survey

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 April 2018

Pascoe Pleasence ,
Nigel J. Balmer  and
Catrina Denvir
Pascoe Pleasence
Affiliation:
Faculty of Laws, University College London E-mail: [email protected]
Nigel J. Balmer
Affiliation:
Faculty of Laws, University College London E-mail: [email protected]
Catrina Denvir
Affiliation:
Centre for Legal Innovation, Ulster University E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In England and Wales less than half of the adult population report that they have a will, with similarly low numbers found in other jurisdictions. Dying intestate can have profound implications on the family relationships, housing security, finances, employment, health and welfare of those who are left behind. Social policy initiatives designed to educate the public on the implications of intestacy offer a potential solution but remain difficult to evaluate. This article explores the results of a public legal education experiment embedded in a longitudinal panel survey. The experiment was designed to explore: (1) the impact of information provision on will creation; and, (2) how ‘opportunistic experiments’ embedded in longitudinal surveys might support public legal education (PLE) evaluation. Whilst the impact of the information intervention in this study was not found to be statistically significant, the methodology points to the possibility of testing more bespoke and substantial initiatives in the future.

Keywords

Public legal educationopportunistic experimentsevaluating interventionswillsexperimental methodslegal knowledge and capability
Type
Articles
Information
Social Policy and Society , Volume 18 , Issue 2 , April 2019 , pp. 187 - 201
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Administration of Estates Act 1925, s.46(1), https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo5/15-16/23/section/46 [accessed 28.10.2016].Google Scholar
Affi, A. and Affi, H. (2014) Contemporary Interpretation of Islamic Law, Leicestershire: Troubador Publishing, 172–77.Google Scholar
Barlow, A., Duncan, S., James, G. and Park, A. (2005) Cohabitation, Marriage and the Law: Social Change and Legal Reform in the 21st Century, Oxford: Hart.Google Scholar
Bauman, A. E., Bellew, B., Owen, N. and Vita, P. (2001) ‘Impact of an Australian mass media campaign targeting physical activity in 1998’, American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 21, 1, 41–7.Google Scholar
Booker, C. L., Harding, S. and Benzeval, M. (2011) ‘A systematic review of the effect of retention methods in population-based cohort studies’, BMC Public Health, 11, 249.Google Scholar
Boyd, A., Tilling, K., Cornish, R., Davies, A., Humphries, K. and Macleod, J. (2015) ‘Professionally designed information materials and telephone reminders improved consent response rates: evidence from an RCT nested within a cohort study’, Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 68, 8, 877–87.Google Scholar
Casebourne, J., Regan, J., Neathey, F. and Tuohy, S. (2006) Employment Rights at Work: A Survey of Employees 2005, London: Department of Trade and Industry.Google Scholar
Chipperfield, J. and Bell, P. (2010) ‘Embedded experiments in repeated and overlapping surveys’, Journal of the Royal Statistical Society. Series A (Statistics in Society), 173, 1, 51–66.Google Scholar
Cleary, A. and Balmer, N. J. (2015) ‘Fit for purpose: the impact of between wave engagement on response to a longitudinal survey’, International Journal of Market Research, 57, 533–54.Google Scholar
Corden, A. (2016) ‘Chapter 9. Bereavement and the workplace’, in Foster, L. and Woodthorpe, K. (eds.), Death and Social Policy in Challenging Times, London: Palgrave MacMillan.Google Scholar
Darley, J. M., Carlsmith, K. M. and Robinson, P. H. (2001) ‘The ex ante function of the criminal law’, Law and Society Review, 35, 1, 165–89.Google Scholar
Denvir, C., Balmer, N. J. and Pleasence, P. (2013) ‘When legal rights are not a reality: do individuals know their rights and how can we tell?’, Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law, 35, 1, 139–60.Google Scholar
Department of Health (2008) End of Life Care Strategy: Promoting High Quality Care for all Adults at the end of Life, London: The Stationary Office.Google Scholar
DiRusso, A. A. (2009) ‘Testacy and intestacy: the dynamics of wills and demographic status’, Quinnipiac Probate Law Journal, 23, 1, 36–79.Google Scholar
Douglas, G., Woodward, H., Humphrey, A., Mills, L. and Morrell, G. (2011) ‘Enduring love? Attitudes to family and inheritance law in England and Wales’, Journal of Law and Society, 38, 245–71.Google Scholar
Dyer, J. F. and Bailey, C. (2008) ‘A place to call home: cultural understandings of heir property among rural African Americans’, Rural Sociology, 73, 317–38.Google Scholar
Fellows, M., Simon, R. and Rau, W. (1978) ‘Public attitudes about property distribution at death and intestate succession laws in the United States’, American Bar Foundation Research Journal, 3, 2, 319–91.Google Scholar
Foster, L. and Woodthorpe, K. (2016) ‘Chapter 11. Conclusion – where do we go from here?, in Foster, L. and Woodthorpe, K. (eds.), Death and Social Policy in Challenging Times, London: Palgrave MacMillan.Google Scholar
Gedzi, V. (2012) ‘Women's property relations after intestate succession PNDC Law 111 in Ghana’, Research on Humanities and Social Sciences, 2, 211–19.Google Scholar
Genn, G. (1999) Paths to Justice: What People Do and Think About Going to Law, Oxford: Hart.Google Scholar
Government of Yukon (2015) ‘New campaign encourages Yukoners to make a will’, [press release] 4 November, http://www.gov.yk.ca/news/15-337.html [accessed 28.10.2016].Google Scholar
Greve, B. (2017) ‘Introduction: Evaluation as an instrument in social policy’, in Greve, B. (ed.), Handbook of Social Policy Evaluation, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.Google Scholar
Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1975/63 [accessed 26.11.2016].Google Scholar
Kim, P. T. (1999) ‘Norms, learning, and law: exploring the influences on workers’ legal knowledge’, University of Illinois Law Review, 447–515.Google Scholar
Law Commission (2009) Intestacy and Family Provision Claims on Death: A Consultation Paper, London: Law Commission.Google Scholar
Law Society (2014) ‘Millions of Britons have no will’, London: Law Society, https://web.archive.org/web/20161011125634/http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/news/press-releases/millions-of-britons-have-no-will [accessed 28.10.2016].Google Scholar
Lewis, J., Tennant, R. and Taylor, J. (2009) ‘Financial arrangements on the breakdown of cohabitation: influences and disadvantage’, in Miles, J. and Probert, R. (eds.), Sharing Lives, Dividing Assets: An Inter-Disciplinary Study, Oxford: Hart, 179.Google Scholar
LexisNexis (2011) ‘EZLaw Survey finds most American's recognise the importance of a will or estate planning, yet few have necessary documents in place’, LexisNexis, http://www.lexisnexis.com/en-us/about-us/media/press-release.page?id=1311095221427043 [accessed 28.10.2016].Google Scholar
Lustria, M. L. A., Noar, S. M., Cortese, J., Van Stee, S. K., Glueckauf, R. L. and Lee, J. (2013) ‘A meta-analysis of web-delivered tailored health behavior change interventions’, Journal of Health Communication: International Perspectives, 18, 9, 1039–69.Google Scholar
Mandell, L. and Schmidt-Klein, L. (2009) ‘The impact of financial literacy education on subsequent financial behavior’, Westerville, Ohio: AFCPE, http://www.afcpe.org/assets/pdf/lewis_mandell_linda_schmid_klein.pdf [accessed 28.10.2016].Google Scholar
McVey, D. and Stapleton, J. (2000) ‘Can anti-smoking television advertising affect smoking behaviour? Controlled trial of the Health Education Authority for England's anti-smoking TV campaign’, Tobacco Control, 9, 273–82.Google Scholar
Moher, D., Hopewell, S., Schultz, K. F., Montori, V., Gøtzsche, P. C., Devereaux, P. J., Elbourne, D., Egger, M. and Altman, D. G. (2010) ‘CONSORT 2010 explanation and elaboration: updated guidelines for reporting parallel group randomised trials’, British Medical Journal, 340, c869.Google Scholar
National Consumer Council (2007) Finding The Will: A Report On Will Writing Behaviour In England And Wales, London: National Consumer Council.Google Scholar
Office for National Statistics (2014) How Have Mortality Rates by Age Changed Over the Last 50 Years?: Comparison of Mortality Rates by Age and Sex in 1963 and 2013, http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20160105202750/http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/vsob1/death-reg-sum-tables/2013/sty-mortality-rates-by-age.html [accessed 18.07.2018].Google Scholar
Pleasence, P. (2006) Causes of Action: Civil Law and Social Justice, 2nd edn, Norwich: TSO.Google Scholar
Pleasence, P. and Balmer, N. J. (2012) ‘Ignorance in bliss: modelling knowledge of rights in marriage and cohabitation’, Law and Society Review, 46, 2, 297–333.Google Scholar
Pleasence, P., Balmer, N. and Denvir, C. (2017) ‘Wrong about rights: public knowledge of key areas of consumer, housing and employment law in England and Wales’, Modern Law Review, 80, 5, 836–59.Google Scholar
Pleasence, P., Balmer, N. J., Patel, A. and Denvir, C. (2010) Civil Justice in England and Wales, London: Legal Services Commission.Google Scholar
Pleasence, P., Buck, A., Balmer, N. J., O'Grady, A., Genn, H. and Smith, M. (2004) Causes of Action: Civil Law and Social Justice, 1st edn, Norwich: TSO.Google Scholar
Pocock, S. J., McMurray, J. J. V. and Collier, T. J. (2015) ‘Statistical controversies in reporting of clinical trials’, Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 66, 23, 2648–62.Google Scholar
PLEAS Taskforce (2007) Developing Capable Citizens: The Role of Public Legal Education. Report of the PLEAS Taskforce, http://lawforlife.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/pleas-task-force-report-14.pdf [accessed 28.10.2016].Google Scholar
Resch, A., Berk, J. and Akers, L. (2014) Recognizing and Conducting Opportunistic Experiments in Education: A Guide for Policymakers and Researchers (REL 2014–037), Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Analytic Technical Assistance and Development, http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs.Google Scholar
Rowlingson, K. (2016) ‘Chapter 10. ‘You can't take it with you when you die’: wealth, intestacy rules and inheritance tax’, in Foster, L. and Woodthorpe, K. (eds.), Death and Social Policy in Challenging Times, London: Palgrave MacMillan.Google Scholar
Saunders, LaVell E. (1975) ‘Collective ignorance: public knowledge of family law’, The Family Coordinator, 24, 1, 69–74.Google Scholar
Schneider, B., Saw, G. and Broda, M. (2016) ‘A future for the national education longitudinal program’, AERA Open, 2, 2, 1–13.Google Scholar
Shaffer, T. (1969) ‘The “estate planning” counselor and values destroyed by death’, Iowa Law Review, 55, 376, 377.Google Scholar
Sharot, T. (2011) ‘The optimism bias’, Current Biology, 21, 23, R941–5.Google Scholar
Sussman, M. B., Cates, J. N. and Smith, D. T. (1970) ‘Will making: an examination of client and lawyer attitudes’, University of Florida Law Review, 23, 25–50.Google Scholar
Tilse, C., Wilson, J., White, B., Rosenman, L. and Feeney, R. (2015) Having the Last Word? Will Making and Contestation in Australia. Final Report, Brisbane: University of Queensland, https://www.ptg.act.gov.au/images/pdf/having-the-last-word.pdf [accessed 28.10.2016].Google Scholar
Valentine, C. and Bauld, L. (2016) ‘Chapter 7. Marginalised deaths and policy’, in Foster, L. and Woodthorpe, K. (eds.), Death and Social Policy in Challenging Times, London: Palgrave MacMillan.Google Scholar
Walker, A. (2016) ‘Foreword’, in Foster, L. and Woodthorpe, K. (eds.), Death and Social Policy in Challenging Times, London: Palgrave MacMillan.Google Scholar
Weinstein, N.D. (1980) ‘Unrealistic optimism about future life events’, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 39, 806–20.Google Scholar
Weisbord, R. K. (2012) ‘Wills for everyone: helping individuals opt out of intestacy’, Boston College Law Review, 53, 877–952.Google Scholar
Weiss, C. H. (1999) ‘The interface between evaluation and public policy,’ Evaluation, 5, 4, 468–86.Google Scholar
Westwood Spice (2015) Evaluation of the NSW Ageing Strategy. June 2015, Sydney: WestWood Spice, https://www.adhc.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/file/0004/331681/Ageing-Strategy-Evaluation-Final-Report.pdf [accessed 28.10.2016].Google Scholar
Will Aid (2014) Will Aid Research 2014: Key Findings, London: Will Aid, https://web.archive.org/web/20150307043612/http://www.willaid.org.uk/press/research [accessed 28.10.2016].Google Scholar
Wintersteiger, L. (2015) Legal Needs, Legal Capability and the Role of Public Legal Education, London: Law for Life: the Foundation for Public Legal Education.Google Scholar