Legacies
One excellent way of helping the Friends is to remember us in your will, after you have made provision for your friends and family of course.
Legacies are also an efficient way of giving to a charity: not only are they tax free (as are all gifts to charities) but are often used as a means of reducing an estate to a level below the current Inheritance Tax Threshold.
The Importance of a Will
There are many reasons why you should make a will, not least to provide for those dearest to you. Even if you have no relatives or friends for whom you might wish to provide it is still important that you leave a will to maintain control over where your possessions go. If you die without making a will, there are circumstances in which everything you own passes to the State.
How Inheritance Tax works
The current Inheritance Tax Threshold is £300,000 (2007-08) you should check for the current level). Any assets over this amount are subject to 40% Inheritance Tax.
But if, for example, your estate is worth £310,000 and you leave a legacy to charity of £10,000 you would reduce the value of your taxable estate to the threshold level and no tax would be payable. You would be helping a worthy cause to the tune of £10,000, but it would only have cost your estate £6,000, the remainder being saved in tax.
Changing a Will
Even if you have already made a will there are many occasions when you will need to change it. You can make amendments by means of a codicil and your solicitor or other qualified person will be happy to deal with this for you.
There are three types of legacy that may be appropriate. Before proceeding with any of these you should, of course, consult your solicitor or other suitably qualified person. The phrasing for each type of legacy may, however, be helpful to you:
· Residual Legacy – Where the residue of your estate is left to charity (i.e. the sum left over after all other legacies, bequests and costs have been paid).
· Subject to the payment of my debts, funeral and testamentary expenses, I will give the whole of my estate not otherwise disposed of by this my Will (alternatively n percentage of my residual estate) to the Friends of St Mary’s Church, Ross-on-Wye and declare that the receipt of their Treasurer shall be a full and sufficient discharge to my Executors.
· Specific Legacy – In this case the specific amount of money or percentage of your estate you wish to leave to a particular charity is stated.
· I give to The Friends of St Mary’s Church, Ross-on-Wye the sum of £nn from the date of this my Will and declare that the receipt of their Treasurer shall be a full and sufficient discharge to my Executors.
· Life Interest – You can provide in your will a lifetime security for someone dear to you by giving them a Life Interest in your property while also leaving an instruction that after their death the property passes to someone else or to a charity.
· If you feel this is the right kind of legacy for you, your solicitor will be able to write the appropriate clause into your will. Types of Legacy
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