Nearly one in four British adults say that they plan to leave a legacy in their will, with the young and single particularly inclined towards making a bequest.

More than a third of single people and 40 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds told Standard Life researchers that they planned to leave money to charity in their wills. The annual Wills & Trusts Research report found, meanwhile, only around 20 per cent of people in couples or those widowed or separated planned to do the same.

Volunteers also proved to be very strong legacy prospects, according to the survey of more than 1,000 members of the public. Thirty-five per cent of people who said they volunteered said they were likely to leave a legacy, compared to the 20 per cent of non-volunteers.

A fifth of the public said they regularly donated their time to charity for free.

Stephen George, chair of Remember a Charity and development director for legacies at NSPCC, welcomed the report. “This is fantastic news and shows that more and more people are considering leaving a gift in their will as a way of continuing to help charity,” he said.