Partner Angela Bowman, head of our Contentious Probate team, looks at the recent findings published in the Legacy Giving Report 2025.
New research, published by Legacy Futures and Smee & Ford, has highlighted that charities’ income from legacies increased to a record high of £4.5 billion in 2024, representing a remarkable 9% increase from the previous year, which had seen a modest 1.3% annual increase in legacy income.
According to the Legacy Giving Report 2025, in 2024 there was a “dramatic increase” in the number of estates that included a gift to charity, with the number of charitable estates rising by 22% in 12 months to a record high of 46,000.
This occurred despite a fall in the overall number of deaths registered during the period, down from 660,000 in 2023 to 648,000 in 2024.
Having peaked at a high of 55,000 estates awaiting grants of probate in Summer 2023, HM Courts and Tribunals Service's successful efforts in clearing most of the backlog helped to facilitate a 15% increase in charitable bequests in 2024, with 145,000 gifts being made to charities that year.
According to the report, the average estate value for individuals leaving a charitable gift was £599,000 in 2024, with the average residuary gift being £65,000 and the average pecuniary gift £4,500. In London and the South East 44% of probated estates contained a legacy gift, compared to a national average across all regions of 16.6%.
Some of the leading charities to benefit most from legacy giving in 2024 were Cancer Research UK, Macmillan Cancer Support, RSPCA, Alzheimer’s Society, Dogs Trust, Marie Curie, PDSA and British Heart Foundation.
At Blandy & Blandy, we are proud to have supported Cancer Research UK’s Free Will Scheme for over 25 years, helping to administer £10.14 million in donations to the charity in that time. Naturally, many of our clients also choose to support a wide range of other excellent causes.
In our Contentious Probate team, we specialise in advising charities in relation to legacy disputes, helping them to protect and recover bequests left to the charity through legacy gifts.
For further information or legal advice, please contact law@blandy.co.uk or call 0118 951 6800.
This article is intended for the use of clients and other interested parties. The information contained in it is believed to be correct at the date of publication, but it is necessarily of a brief and general nature and should not be relied upon as a substitute for specific professional advice.
