Research has shown that a fifth of adults are more likely to remember a charity in their will if they are prompted by a solicitor, more than 50 per cent more than the proportion who would leave a legacy unprompted.

A report by financial services organisation Foresters reported that 12 per cent of UK adults say they intend currently to leave a legacy to charity, but this figure could be increased to 19 per cent if more emphasis is put on the practice.

A further 47 per cent of adults remain unsure about whether they would donate to charity in their will, leaving a lot of scope for charities to potentially receive donations.

Figures compiled by legacy promotion body show the actual proportion of wills which include a legacy donation is more like 7 per cent.

The impact of solicitor prompts in legacy donations has been studied before. In 2013 a test conducted by the Cabinet Office’s Behavioural Insights Team found that three times as many people would consider leaving a gift in their will if their solicitor prompted them. The trial, which was conducted with the Co-operative Legal Services over six months and included more than 1,000 wills, found that the proportion of legators could be nudged up from 5 per cent to 10 per cent with the right intervention from solicitors, theoretically releasing an additional £4bn to charity a year.

Meanwhile Steve Dilworth, managing director of Member Network UK Foresters, said his firm’s calculations suggest that an extra £59bn could be raised for charity if more people were prompted to leave a legacy.

The research, which stems from an online survey undertaken by over 1,200 people, also states that almost one in ten over-60s won’t be donating to charity in their will because they are not prepared to consider their will just yet.

Charities remembered in wills are most commonly cancer charities, receiving 49 per cent of legacy donations. This is closely followed by animal charities which receive 41 per cent. In contrast, environmental and third world charities are least likely to be remembered in peoples wills, receiving 12 per cent and 14 per cent consecutively.