Many people don't think about having a will made until they
sprout a few gray hairs. But recently, in the Harbin City, Heilongjiang
Province, notary office has seen quite a few young people come
in to have their wills notarized.
The head of the administration department of the Harbin notary
office says that they have now grown used to seeing young people
come in to have their wills notarized. This group has a variety of
reasons: some have serious illnesses; others travel frequently and
feel there is some risk associated with that; others simply think
it is fun.
Staff from the notary office were called to a local hospital one
day to notarize a will for a young man in the terminal stages of
cancer. After checking with his doctors to ensure that he was of
sound mind, the notaries made photo and video recordings of the
young man signing his will. In another case, a young father
diagnosed with a heart ailment made out a will to ensure that his
child would inherit his property.
In China's fast-growing economy, many people are acquiring
substantial property and they want to be sure that it is disposed
of properly in event of their deaths. This is particularly true in
the case of young couples.
Some younger, newly wealthy and still healthy people want to
play it safe in the event of some unforeseen natural disaster. One
businessman in his early thirties whose estate was worth more than
a million yuan (US$120,000) had a will made out for this reason.
Other people who fly frequently or work in high-risk jobs feel
similarly.
An expert from the Heilongjiang Academy of Social Sciences says
that the phenomenon reflects societal change. Economic development
means that China is home now to many well-to-do young people who
are more conscious of the need for legal protection than their
elders. They treasure their newfound wealth and seek legal means to
protect it. Moreover, he says, young people today are more
open-minded and take a practical view of death rather than fearing
it and shying away from the thought.
(china.org.cn by Wang Ruyue, May 6, 2004)