In the past year legacy income has increased by 10%, exceeding £3 billion for the first time. Whilst many were concerned that legacy income would struggle until a definitive Brexit outcome is reached, 2017’s total of £2.8 billion has been eclipsed by the legacy gifts left in Wills last year.
The UK public are also becoming a lot more eclectic over the type of charities they choose to leave a legacy gift to. The number of charities benefiting from legacies increased in 2018 with 28,357 charities named in UK Wills last year and 2,828 charities being named for the first time.
The number of bequests recorded also increased last year with 123,235 legacy gifts being bestowed upon charities marking an increase of 386 when compared with the 122,849 legacy gifts made in 2017.
Additionally, the number of estates leaving charitable legacy gifts is also rising. In 2018, 37,856 charities were left money in UK Wills which was a slight upturn on the 37,364 charities benefiting in 2017.
However, the value of these increased estates is starting to fall as house price increases begin to stall and slow down, reducing the equity accumulating in property.
In 2017, UK estates were valued at £18.4 billion; last year, they tumbled by £500 million to £17.9 billion.
In total, 6.3% of the people who died in 2018 left a legacy gift in their Will. However, these donors were extremely generous as they left 16.7% of the entire value of the charitable estates in legacy gifts.
Over a third (36.3%) of charitable Wills contained just one bequest, increasing from 34.7% in 2017. Whilst people are keen to leave a gift to charity, many are reluctant to share the wealth, opting to leave a solo bequest instead.
A spokesperson for Smee & Ford told Civil Society News:
“Legacy income has reached a new milestone and is now worth over £3bn, the largest ever reported.
“An examination of annual legacy income change, where legacy income exists for both the current and previous year, shows that of the 1,800 charities with legacy income for two consecutive years, 51 per cent reported an increase and 49 per cent reported a decrease.
“The increases were worth £434m whereas the decreases were worth £311m, creating a net increase in legacy income of £123m.
“There are also organisations which received legacy income which did not previously.”
Do you think that leaving a legacy gift will continue to rise? Will Brexit continue to play a part in the extent an estate leaves to charity?
