Senior citizens taking out wills to distribute their wealth

An increasing number of elderly citizens in Hangzhou have started to make wills, in a bid to better distribute their wealth and assets and reduce household disputes, statistics from a local non-governmental agency shows.

Statistics from the Hangzhou-based Zhejiang Will Library show that so far this year, the number of senior citizens taking out wills through the agency grew by 80 percent. Many travel from neighboring cities such as Ningbo and Zhoushan to register their testaments, the statistics show.

Numbers have been increasing at such a rate that the agency now has to make reservations three months in advance.

The agency, launched in June 2016, has so far offered free consultation, will registration and custodian services to over 4,800 testators aged over 60 in the province.

"This is inconceivable, compared with the scenes when the agency was launched two years ago. Back then, few would be interested (in making wills) and many senior citizens just turned around and walked away," said Ye Shijuan, director with the company.

The agency on Wednesday launched its first community service station in Xiacheng district in Hangzhou, hoping to promote such stations to more community centers in the city.