Gifts from the Grave: Mapping Charitable Bequests in Ireland

• In Event: Generosity and Civic engagement across the Life-course

Abstract

As a nation, Irish people are generally poor at succession planning. In 2007, some €4.4m from unclaimed intestate succession was transferred from the state’s hands to the Dormant Accounts Fund for onward distribution to charitable causes. A Royal London survey (2017) estimated that seven out of ten people die intestate in Ireland with recent survey data (Irish Life Financial, 2021) suggesting that only 30% of the adult population make a will. This low level of succession planning has a knock-on effect on the level of charitable bequests and legacies. An Amárach Research study conducted on behalf of MyLegacy in 2016 revealed that only 12% of Irish people planned to leave money to a charity.

Attempts to better understand who gives and why have been greatly hampered by a lack of official data on charitable legacies. Absence of good data further frustrates attempts to quantify the extent of planned giving and to incentivise greater engagement. While Irish Probate Offices receive details of all charitable bequests made by will, this information is forwarded to the Charities Regulatory Authority (CRA) and it is not made more publicly available, a matter which has long been a source of complaint amongst both researchers and fundraisers alike (O’Sullivan, 2010; O’Leary, 2018).

Recent attempts have been made to close this data gap and to provide an empirical evidence base to support informed policymaking to encourage greater philanthropic intergenerational wealth transfer. This paper compares the dichotomy between Ireland’s approach to inter vivos charitable giving and testamentary gifts to charity. It examines the CRA’s first report on charitable bequests (2021) and critically analyses an independent empirical study of charitable legacies in one of Ireland’s 15 probate offices (Legacy Insights 2022). It also considers the findings of the Community Foundation of Ireland’s commissioned study on legacies (2023), which notes that while aggregate household net wealth in Ireland surpassed €1 trillion in December 2022 -- representing an increase of almost 50% on 2017 figures and a doubling of charitable legacies -- the current level of inter-generational transfer of wealth (at 1.5%) remains well behind the corresponding figure of 3.6% in the UK. Drawing on experiences in England and Wales, the paper then suggests what further steps remain to be taken to map the charitable destination of legacy income and to incentivise its growth.

Given that the Irish Government is currently developing a national policy on philanthropy (DRCD, 2023), this research provides a timely exploration of the current health of testamentary charitable giving in Ireland, the existing barriers to greater giving and possible policy incentives available to government to encourage greater philanthropy.

References

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Author

• Oonagh B Breen, UCD Sutherland School of Law