Making your Will For Good
Many people like to include a gift to a favourite charity when they make their Will. It's a wonderful way to continue your support for a cause that's close to your heart. A legacy gift is often the most significant contribution you're able to make, and it doesn't cost you a penny now.
Gifts in Wills are so important to charities in the UK. They often make up a large proportion of their funding, and play a significant part in the work they're able do. Any charity would be delighted if you would consider supporting them in this special way.
A gift to charity in your Will could have a positive impact in so many ways. It could save a life, help children, older people or those with life-limiting illnesses or enable a disabled person to retain their independence. Legacy gifts also often provide the vital funds needed to undertake long-term research or to pioneer new projects.
How to support charities in your Will
You can use your Will to support charities in a number of ways, and you'll have the opportunity to consider each as you go through the process of making your Will For Good:
Giving a percentage of your net estate
Giving a gift of a specific cash amount
Asking friends and family to make funeral donations to a charity
You can select from our list of fantastic charity partners, or choose to support any other charity with a legacy gift. There's no limit to the number of charities you can include a gift to, but also no obligation to leave anything to charity.
Tax advantages
Another reason to consider supporting charities is that there are significant tax implications of making gifts to charity in a Will:
Gifts to charity are exempt from inheritance tax (IHT)
If 10% or more of your net estate is left to charity, then the IHT chargeable on the remainder of the estate is reduced from 40% to 36%.
Leaving your whole estate to charity
It's not true that you can always give away your estate in any way that you choose, and that includes leaving your whole estate to charity.
If there's a close family member or dependant who feels that they should have been provided for by your Will, they may have a claim against your estate for reasonable provision. It's been held in court that there would have to be very strong reasons for leaving the estate to a charity rather than such a person.
For more information, see our article Can you disinherit family and dependants?