According to a new Legacy Foresight report, the value of charity donations in wills is set to double over the next 25 years.
The report says UK legacy gifts are currently worth £3 billion and in-memory gifts £2 billion a year, but claims that the combined total will be worth close to £10 billion by the year 2045.
The number of people donating gifts to charity in their wills is also expected to rise in that period, increasing from the current 120,000 up to around 200,000.
Experts believe this to be due to many different reasons, including a higher number of deaths, more people making wills and a higher proportion of those leaving part of their legacy to charity.
By the year 2045, it is expected that people without children will represent the most significant share of those donating charitable gifts in wills, as the number of people dying childless increases and those with children focusing more on leaving their legacy to immediate family members instead.
The report predicts that small charities will continue to make big gains, with people increasingly supporting local and specialist charities and campaigns, and that competition will intensify as, rather than leaving one or two charitable donations, people will choose to split their legacy giving between more causes.
There is also expected to be a significant change in how people communicate their final wishes, with the use of films, recordings, texts and holograms being prominent and digital wills considered to be the norm.
Meg Abdy, Development Director at Legacy Foresight, said: There’s no doubt UK society will see some fundamental shifts over the next two decades, including many more people living into their 90s, a new generation of child-free donors, and the biggest intergenerational transfer of wealth ever seen.
“People will also choose to split their giving between more causes and technology will help to level the playing field.”