4 in 10 Brits plan charity gifts in wills

A new study has revealed that more than 40 per cent of people intend to use their will to benefit a charity.

A study of 2,000 people commissioned by the British Heart Foundation revealed that 43 per cent of the UK public intend to leave money to charity in their wills.

The research, published on 7 April, also asked respondents about their motivation

for leaving a gift in a will to charity.

A total of 52 per cent said it was having a personal link to the organisation, 28 per cent that they would feel good about giving something back to society and 16 per cent simply that they believed it was important to leave donations to charities in wills.

According to the Institute of Legacy Management, around £2 billion is left to voluntary organisations through gifts in wills each year, making them a key income source for many charities.

Charitable donations can also be valuable as part of inheritance tax planning for larger estates.

An estate worth more than £325,000, making it liable to inheritance tax, will pay a reduced IHT rate of 36 per cent instead of the usual rate of 40 per cent if ten per cent or more of its value is left to charity.