A new report has exposed the frustrations of charity legacy officers and probate practitioners working in the specialist area of charitable legacies.

The report, from the charity sector team at law firm Penningtons Manches, is based on an independent survey carried out by Research Oxford, and points to a far greater need for communication and collaboration to achieve improved results.

Alison Talbot, Penningtons Manches’ head of charities commented: “Through our day-to-day work we’d picked up on some tensions between legacy officers and probate practitioners. We undertook this research to gain a more thorough and accurate understanding of their relationship and to try and explore the wider themes behind our anecdotal observations. In analysing the data we were in fact surprised by the strength of discontent expressed by some participants.”

Over a third (34 per cent) of the legacy officers with the most experience were concerned by the probate practitioners’ lack of understanding of some tax exemptions and reliefs. Furthermore, only 38 per cent of legacy officers were satisfied with the willingness of probate practitioners to accept assistance with charity law requirements.

Talbot added: “The attitude of some probate practitioners is a real concern for charities. It might be that some of them feel defensive or some simply do not understand the requirements of charities in relation to the collection of charity legacies. However, even if the charity sector finds the views of the probate practitioners frustrating, it has to take notice of the concerns as these individuals are often the gatekeepers to future charity legacies.”

However, the feelings of frustration were not only one way, with probate practitioners also feeling that there could be a lack of understanding, and legacy officers themselves feeling their own charity’s senior managers and trustees’ awareness of issues is too low.

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