By james art A survey published by wealth manager Rathbones found that more than a quarter of charity bosses said they had to cut jobs because delays in bequests affected their finances.
The survey showed that almost all charities, 99%, are currently affected by bequest retention.
Andy Pitt, head of charities at Rathbones, said “significant delays in bequests are causing charities to miss out on millions of pounds in income they need to be able to fund vital services and life-saving research”.
Bequests currently raise around £4 billion a year for UK charities.
However, the survey found that bereaved families have to wait more than 11 months on average for a will to be granted after a recent increase in waiting periods.
The wealth manager, which is responsible for £9.4bn in funds under management for more than 3,000 charities, said around 14% of each charity’s income is currently being held back by bequest issues.
This has forced charity bosses to make tough decisions to cover the financial shortfall.
Eight in 10 senior charity executives said the problems were affecting their recruitment plans, while 51% said it had caused them to cut back on services.
The survey also found that 43% said they had sold assets such as property to fill the gap, while 27% had made layoffs.
Mr Pitt said: “The gridlock is not only adding to the financial stress on grieving families as property sales fall through or they have to pay interest payments on inheritance tax – but it is also leading to many senior charity executives have to make tough decisions about how to deal with cash flow crunches.
“They don’t know how long they can wait to get these much-needed funds, and it’s impossible to budget or plan for the future.”