One in four wills written by solicitors and professional will-writers now include a charitable gift

The 2022 Savanta Will-writing tracking study* was commissioned by Remember A Charity, a consortium of UK charities working to promote charitable gifts in Wills amongst the British public.

Findings reveal that almost a quarter (24%) of Wills handled by UK legal advisers now include a donation to charitycontinuing a steady rise year-on-year for the past decade, up from 16% in 2014.

Graph showing the average proportion of Wills made through solicitors and Will-writers that include a charitable gift

Gifts in Wills are the largest single source of voluntary income for charities in the UK, raising £3.85 billion** for good causes annually and funding vital charitable services.

Over a third (36%) of all solicitors and Will-writers say they always raise the option of a charitable legacy with relevant clients, while less than one in 10 (9%) say they never do so. Of those who don’t always raise the issue, more than one quarter (26%) say the most prominent reason is because they do not want to influence their client’s decision.

When it comes to the barriers to legacy giving, professional advisers believe the most common issues are that clients want to leave their full estate to their family (83%), that they have difficulty choosing which charity/charities to support (38%) or that it may cause/lead to dispute (38%).

Three-quarters of the firms in this survey (77%) have acted or assisted in the administration of estates that include a legacy to charity. Over half (56%) of those said they found charities easy to deal with. Only 13% indicated said they didn’t find charities easy to work with and the top cited reason (22%) for that was that they communicate too often.

Lucinda Frostick, Director at Remember A Charity, says:

“Once clients have taken care of their family and loved ones in their Will, the option to leave a charitable gift and lasting legacy to positively impact the world after they are gone can be hugely empowering and inspiring. This benchmarking study charts a continual rise in the proportion of Wills made through solicitors and Will-writers that include a charitable gift. These donations may not arrive for some years yet, but they will fund vital services and charities’ core costs for generations to follow.”

Remember A Charity runs a free Campaign Supporter scheme for solicitors and Will-writers, providing promotional resources and useful guidance for referencing legacy giving with clients. Find out more at www.rememberacharity.org.uk/about-us/forsolicitors-will-writers

Remember A Charity Week takes place 11-17 September 2023.

*Savanta, Will-Writing Tracking Study 2023

Commissioned by Remember A Charity and carried out by Savanta, this Will-writing tracking study explores how professional advisers view and approach charitable bequests when discussing Will-writing with clients. It is based on Computer Aided Telephone Interviews (CATI) that were conducted from 14 December 2022 to 25 January 2023 to gather the views of 230 solicitors, professional Will-writers and IFAs across the UK.

**Smee & Ford, Legacy Trends Report 2023 and Legacy Foresight 2023