Legacy Foresight has reported a “surprising” legacy income growth of 4.3 per cent to £1.54bn among its members in the 12 months to June 2019.
The benchmarking organisation said the rise came despite “pre-Brexit turbulence and delays at the probate registries”.
It added: “This strong growth is surprising given the recent slowdown in key economic variables,” such as house prices and the stock market.
A spokesperson for Legacy Foresight said: “Despite the acute Brexit-based uncertainties, our 80 Legacy Monitor members’ legacy incomes climbed by 4.3 per cent over the past 12 months.
“We believe that this growth is due to some exceptionally large bequests reported by some members.”
Bequest notifications fall 7 per cent
Bequest notifications have fallen by 7 per cent over the year and Legacy Foresight said it appeared “much of this drop is due to delays at the probate registries, caused by the introduction of new structure and processes”.
It added: “If the probate backlog can be cleared by end August as HM Courts and Tribunals Service claims, then bequest numbers should be back to ‘normal’ [by November].”
The government cast doubt on the future of the legacy notification system earlier this year by announcing that it would end its relationship with the current provider Smee & Ford, before stating last month that the firm would run the service for another year at least.
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