A new survey from Standard Life reveals that most people in the UK don’t leave anything to charity
when they die.
Despite public generosity when Children in Need or Comic Relief come around, 71 per cent of people
questioned before the recent Budget said they didn’t intend to leave any money to charities in their
wills.
Nearly half (43 per cent) said they would rather see family and friends benefit from their estate,
while over a quarter of those questioned (27 per cent) said they couldn’t afford to bequeath to
charity. 10 per cent of people said they felt they gave enough money to charities during their
lifetime.
Perhaps obviously, single men and women were more likely to leave money to charities than those
married or with families. There was also a split between the sexes – with 73 per cent of men saying
they wouldn’t leave money to charity, compared with 69 per cent of women.
In March’s Budget speech, George Osborne announced that those who donated 10 per cent of their
estate to charities would receive a discount on inheritance tax. Julie Hutchison, head of estate
planning for Standard Life, believes this could make a difference to people’s wills.
She said: “Under the new proposals the amount of tax they could pay will drop from 40% to 36%,
from next year. This will mean they could provide more to their family by donating money to
charitable causes, which could be a ‘win-win’ for both parties.”
“The complications surrounding [inheritance tax] and estate planning are vast. And the
announcement in the Budget certainly doesn’t make the difficult decision of who to leave your
money to any easier. Hopefully what this announcement has done though is encourage people to
review and revise their wills, or even create one,” she added.
