About one in six UK adults (17 per cent) do not know that they can leave gifts of money or items to charities in their wills, according to new research from Cancer Research UK.
A survey of more than 2,000 adults commissioned by the charity found that more than half (60 per cent) did not have a will.
Of the respondents who did have a will, about one-third (32 per cent) had included a gift to charity.
And the research found that 30 per cent of people who were aware they can leave a gift to charity would consider doing so in future.
According to the survey, almost one-third of adults have not updated their will in the past five years, while about one in three adults (32 per cent) aged over 55 have not looked at their wills for at least half a decade.
Clare Moore, director of legacies at CRUK, said the charity is highlighting gifts in wills because of the “life-saving impact” it could have for future generations.
Moore said: “Gifts in wills fund a third of Cancer Research UK’s vital work, enabling us to invest in pioneering trials and long-term research projects that could find new ways to outsmart cancer and make a huge difference to thousands of families across the UK.
“When someone writes Cancer Research UK into their will, they’re helping to create a future that could protect the ones they love and we take that responsibility very seriously.
“So, we hope that people will take steps to find out more about gifts in wills.”
An estimated £900m in legacy fundraising has been “caught up in the backlog” of delays with the probate service, according to analysts Legacy Foresight.
But in the past six months the backlog eased by “at least 10,000” according to a report by The Institute of Legacy Management.