How to give
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Plan your legacyIT WILL PROBABLY BE YOUR BIGGEST DONATION, but you won’t even notice it’s gone. With a little thought, you can make sure that any money you leave to charity is put to good use. Even better, these gifts are inheritance-tax free and easy to organise. |
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There's lots of help available for setting up a legacy. Most charities
have extensive advice on their website, and almost all big charities
employ a team which specialises in legacies. They're often worth contacting directly,
since they can answer any unusual questions, and can often help with
writing your will. Caution: some are slow to respond to enquiries, even
if those enquiries concern large donations. So you may need to contact
them more than once before you get any response. Looking for some independent advice? We give the low-down on how to plan your legacy: 1) Decide exactly what you want to give. Legacy donations tend to be bigger than average. This means that, as a potential donor, you’ve got a lot of leverage over the charity. So you can often decide precisely what you want your money to pay for. You could fund anything from a well-building scheme to a puppy. A few charities will even arrange visits to their projects for those thinking of leaving a legacy, so you can see precisely where your money will be going. Don’t hesitate to ask awkward questions until you are satisfied with the arrangements. And it’s not just your cash that can be turned to good causes. Homelessness charities are often after furniture, arts charities may well want your piano, and everyone wants your jewellery. The National Trust will even take the contents of your house if they are in good condition. Unfortunately, legacies don’t qualify for gift-aid. So the tax-man won’t be adding to your donation. But they do escape the dreaded ‘inheritance tax’. Anything past the first £312,000 worth of items in your will gets taxed at a hefty 40% rate. But any money donated to charity isn’t counted towards that sum. This may be worth bearing in mind when deciding how much to give - why not leave some cash to a good cause - instead of giving a large chunk of it to the taxman? 2) Decide exactly how do you want to give it. You can give a proportion (‘residuary’) of your estate, or a set amount (‘pecuniary’). But keep an eye on the financial future – if you choose to donate a set amount of money now, inflation may mean it is worth considerably less when you die. Don’t forget that charity lawyers will push for their client. We’ve heard horror stories of how lawyers acting on charities’ behalf have caused trauma by forcing speedy house-sales and estate breakups. While deciding what and how to give, bear in mind that lawyers don’t become any nicer just because they’re working for a charity. Charities will often ask you to tell them when you choose to leave a legacy, so that they can guess how much income will be coming in over the next few years. The information may be of some use for charities that make long-term plans. But don’t feel under any pressure to let them know. 3) Include the charitable donation in your will. There’s a lot of help available for those who want to write a new will, or alter an old one. If anything, charities are obsessed with getting their supporters to write wills. Quite a few charities have free will writing services for their members, where you can get your will written by a professional (see box below). You are never obliged to leave money to any charity when you use these, but the service costs the charity money, so they hope that you will remember them. If you want to pay for your own professional will, consider using Will Aid. This organisation encourages qualified solicitors to write your will for free, and then asks you to donate an appropriate fee to one of their charities. You can also write your own will. Head down to your local WH Smith and pick up a DIY will kit. Charities will often have appropriate wording to add a donation to your will. Some hints: make sure the right charity gets your money by specifying its charity registration number in addition to its name. Many charities have similar names, and this has lead to confusion in the past (You wouldn't want to set charities squabbling). Also make clear whether you intend the bequest for a national body, or a local or regional branch, where appropriate. And make clear what you'd like to happen if the charity closes down or merges. Such things happen, especially to smaller outfits. If you already have a will, and want to make a simple amendment such as adding a charity to donate to, you can use a simple ‘Codicil’ form. Charities should be able to provide one.
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