26 June 2021
Charities lost out but will writing peaked as news coverage sent memento mori to the nation
Charities are likely to suffer an unexpected side-effect of COVID-19 this year―a dip in legacy money left in people’s wills.
In 2019, charities received more than £3bn in legacy income, but a 15% drop is predicted for 2020 once the figures are tallied, Debra Burton, partner, and Tamsin Wooldridge, solicitor, in the contentious probate team at Shakespeare Martineau, write in this week's Charities Appeals Supplement.
In this article, Burton and Wooldridge explain the reasons for the dip, which is expected to be temporary.
They also note how the number of wills being written tracked the news agenda during the pandemic, peaking on the day the prime minister went into hospital and the resulting headlines sent a memento mori to the people of the UK.
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