Headlines from Legacy Monitor Q1 2024

• Legacy income received by consortium members in the latest year to March 2024 was £1.81bn, which is up 1% on the previous financial year.
• Income growth has been driven primarily by bequest numbers, which reached almost 60,000, This is the highest number of bequests ever recorded in a year!
• The growth in bequests is primarily as a result of improvements in the probate process at HM Courts and Tribunals Service. Our data suggests that the backlog of probate cases has declined further this quarter implying that investment in additional resource is starting to pay off.
• Average gift values for both residual and pecuniary gifts have remained static. The average residual gift for consortium members was £64,500 in the last year, which was just 0.1% higher than in the previous year - the stagnation of house prices over this period is likely to have driven the sluggish performance in average values.
• Looking forwards, the increased numbers of bequests coming out of the probate process and a less pessimistic outlook for house prices means that we expect the legacy market to remain resilient and show flat or potentially slow growth in 2024.