The Great Wealth Transfer: How Much Will Go to Charity?

How big is the great wealth transfer?

In December 2024, Cerulli Associates estimated that $124 trillion will transfer through 2048. About $105 trillion is expected to go to heirs and $18 trillion to charity, and $54 trillion will pass between spouses along the way. Roughly half, $62 trillion, comes from high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth households (Cerulli).

Not every forecaster agrees on the size. One Visa analysis projected that only about $36 trillion will reach Gen X and millennial households over the next 20 years (Money Talks News).

How much do Americans leave to charity today?

Giving USA estimates that Americans gave $617.20 billion to charity in 2025. Bequests were $62.19 billion of that, up 19.7% from the year before and the fastest-growing source of giving (Giving USA).

Giving USA revises earlier years as more data arrives, so compare figures from the same edition when you can. Bequests have made up roughly 8% to 10% of all U.S. giving for decades. Part of 2025's jump came from very large estates, including about $3.1 billion from the estate of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen (PG Calc).

Who leaves money to charity in their will?

• About 1 in 20 estates. In Health and Retirement Study data, 5.4% of decedents' estates made a charitable transfer (James and Baker).
• About 1 in 9 older planners. Among Americans 55 and older with a will or trust, the share naming a charity rose from 8.3% in 1998 to 11.4% in 2016 (James, 2020).
• A few very large estates. In IRS filings in 2024, 1,733 estates claimed $37.5 billion in charitable deductions, an average of about $21.6 million each (IRS Statistics of Income).
• People without children. Childless adults were 8.8% of will-makers over 55 but 25.7% of those leaving charitable gifts, and they left about 52% of charitable bequest dollars (James, 2020).
• People in their final years. 61% of charitable estate plans were added within five years of death (James and Baker).

Will the $18 trillion actually reach charity?

Not automatically. Spread over 24 years, $18 trillion would be about $750 billion a year. That's more than all U.S. charitable giving in 2025, and about 12 times what Americans left through bequests that year. It's better read as a ceiling than a forecast.

Plans also change. In long-term survey data, only about 55% of charitable estate plans were still in place ten years later (James and Baker).

What could change the outcome?

Being asked. In a U.K. trial with a will-writing firm, simply asking customers whether they'd like to leave money to charity raised the share who did from 4.9% to 10.8%. Telling them that many people do it raised the share to 15.4% (Behavioural Insights Team). Today about 15% of U.K. wills include a charitable gift, after two decades of campaigns that put the question in front of people (TFN).

What does this mean for your own plan?

• A small percentage can be a large gift. Five or ten percent of an estate can fund years of work for a cause.
• A backstop gift keeps your family first. It applies only if none of the people you name survive you, though it does mean relatives you didn't name won't inherit by default. See what happens if you die without a will.
• Retirement accounts are often the best assets to give. Heirs pay income tax on inherited traditional IRAs; charities don't. See how to leave your IRA to charity.

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