Legacy income up 5.1% in 2017, according to Legacy Foresight figures
Melanie May | 22 February 2018 | News
Latest figures from Legacy Foresight, covering the 12 months to December 2017 show a 5.1% rise in total legacy income for the year, including an increase for the second consecutive quarter.
According to Legacy Foresight’s Legacy Monitor, its 83 Legacy Monitor members received £1.5bn in legacy income in the year to 31 December 2017. Total bequests reached 53,775; up 3.2% on 2016.
Average residual values reached a record high of £60,600, boosted by growth in both house and share prices in the second half of last year (up by 4.5% and 10% respectively), according to Legacy Foresight. Residual bequests (which represent a share of what is left in the estate after all specific gifts are bestowed) account for 87% of total Consortium legacy income. Average pecuniary (or cash gift) values have also seen a sharp rise, and now stand at just over £4,000.
Over the next 12 months, Legacy Foresight expects to see numbers of bequests continue to rise along with death rates. Meanwhile, it says, the value of those bequests will depend on the state of the UK economy, and it expects Brexit to continue to hamper investment and spending decisions in the short term, in turn dampening domestic demand and economic growth.
The Legacy Monitor programme has now entered its eleventh year, and has announced six new member charities for this year: Abbeyfield, CLIC Sargent, Royal Air Forces Association, Raystede Centre for Animal Welfare, St Christopher’s Hospice and St John Ambulance.
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About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.