Two sector bodies have announced that they will produce guidance for charities offering will-writing services to donors in the coming months as legacy income becomes an increasingly significant income stream.<\/p>\n
This comes after a recent report in the Times<\/a> warned that errors and oversights in free will-writing by charities could lead to costly legal disputes and surprise tax bills, stating it was advisable to use a solicitor.\u00a0<\/p>\n However, many charity schemes are offered in partnership with solicitors such as Free Wills Month,<\/a> running this month with several major charities signed up, and Will Aid,<\/a> which offers a service in November.<\/p>\n The Chartered Institute of Fundraising (CIOF) and Remember A Charity will publish their guidance in the spring on will-writing partnerships.<\/p>\n Crisis, National Trust, Amnesty International, NSPCC and Alzheimer\u2019s Society are among several charities which offer that service.<\/p>\n Claire Stanley, policy and communications director at CIOF, warned that charities should carefully consider the opportunities and risks, as well as the levels of regulation.<\/p>\n Stanley said: \u201cWill-writing is an extremely complex area.<\/p>\n \u201c[The framework] will provide charities with a framework to ask the right questions to make the decisions that are right for themselves and their supporters.\u201d<\/p>\n Remember A Charity, a UK consortium of about 200 voluntary organisations and campaign arm of CIOF, added that free will-writing can remove a significant hurdle for people.<\/p>\n \u201cFree wills can remove a key barrier and help people take that crucial first step of putting a will in place, and for many supporters a simple will is sufficient,\u201d said director Lucinda Frostick.<\/p>\n However, she said clear signposting was needed for supporters who need specialist advice to ensure they are protected.<\/p>\n \u201cUltimately, charities will want to ensure that their supporters have access to the right level of advice for them.\u201d<\/p>\n Frostick said charities should safeguard supporters by educating them on the opportunities and risks in will-writing, including any potential \u201cupselling\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ashley Rowthorn, Legacy Futures executive director, emphasised the fact that most charities partner with solicitors to offer free will writing services.\u00a0<\/p>\n “Charities have been promoting free will services to their supporters for several decades, and is now a key part of most legacy strategies,” Rowthorn said.<\/p>\n He added that 97% of charity participants in its\u00a0Legacy Marketing Benchmarks analysis said they run a free will scheme, and 43% of campaigns have a free will offer connected to them.<\/p>\n \u2018Considerable risks\u2019<\/p>\n Legacy income for charities in the UK increased to \u00a34.5bn overall last year, according to analysis from Smee & Ford and Legacy Futures.<\/p>\n According to their analysis, legacies<\/a> represented 30% of all fundraising and 14% of total income for the 1,000 charities in England and Wales that received the most money from legacies.<\/p>\n Longer term, legacy income for UK charities is forecast to exceed \u00a37.5bn by 2040 and \u00a311bn by 2050.<\/p>\n