Legacy income continues its slow recovery, with the latest Legacy Monitor report showing a slight increase for the fourth quarter in a row.

The Legacy Monitor is compiled by Legacy Foresight and has 61 member charities, which account for 55 per cent of the market in terms of value. Members had a combined legacy income of £1.044bn in the twelve months to March 2013 – up 1.4 per cent from March 2012.

“This is the fourth consecutive quarter of modest year-on-year growth, suggesting that we may be out of the legacy doldrums at last,” Legacy Foresight said in its report.

The organisation reports that growth is being driven by a boost in residual bequests (gifts to charities which comprise of the ‘remainder’ of a total estate after payments to other nominated parties), which now average £53,000 and account for 87 per cent of Legacy Monitor Consortium members’ income. Legacy Foresight suggests that this boost is down to the “modest recovery in economy, in particular house prices”.

Legacy income is now 2 per cent below the peak in 2008, but taking inflation into account the real value of legacy income has fallen 13 per cent since then.

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