Across Essex, there are hundreds of charities doing amazing work to help our community and you may be thinking about leaving a charitable donation in your Will.
Our community is tight, and we always want to help support individuals, businesses and charities where we can. If you are currently in the process of putting your affairs in order, you will be considering who benefits from your estate including family members and perhaps charities.
Leaving charitable gifts in your Will is simple and easy but it’s important to seriously think about it first before including this in your Will.
Choosing one or multiple charities, it’s important to do your research and speak with legal experts who can help throughout the process.
How do I include charitable donations in my Will?
The process of writing your Will and including charitable donations is simple and straightforward.
When leaving a gift to charity, you can specify exactly what you want to leave whether that is a fixed amount, an item, or whatever sum of money is remaining once other gifts have been distributed to the beneficiaries.
A fixed amount or specific item is usually the most common route individuals choose to take. You might state in your Will you would like to leave £15,000 to a specific charity. That fixed amount will be donated in full to a charity or multiple charities if you are donating to more than one.
You may have a specific item to donate, this can be stated in your Will and given to the charity of your choice.
However, in order for your donation to be valid it must be formally witnessed and signed so there aren’t any issues when the charity or charities can claim.
What charities should I consider leaving a donation to?
As you know, there are lots of fantastic charities across Essex both locally based and nationwide that are doing fantastic things to help our community, and you can choose to leave a donation to as many as you please.
It is entirely your choice, it may be a cause that has personal meaning, or you’ve seen their amazing work in action for yourself.
However, it’s important to conduct thorough research first, assess their credentials and validity, search their work and check for suspicious signs before choosing to leave a gift to them.
Are there any tax benefits when leaving charitable donations?
Charitable donations in your Will can help reduce your Inheritance Tax bill. The gift to charity would reduce the net value of your estate.
For example, if you leave a £15,000 donation to charity, that £15,000 would be knocked off the value of your estate.
So, if your net estate is worth £250,000, the charitable donation would be taken into account, and the net value of your estate would reduce to £235,000.
This means lower net value means your Inheritance Tax Bill is reduced. In addition to this, if a donation is less than 10 per cent of your estate, this could also mean you pay a reduced Inheritance Tax.
The reasoning behind this is the charitable donation would be deducted before the Inheritance Tax Bill figures are confirmed.
Another important factor to know is if you donate land, property or shares to a charity in your Will, you do not have to pay tax on this. You can get a tax relief on Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax, but it’s important to keep a record of donations especially to charity.
Donating to charity offers more than just legacy after death, it’s something personal and it will mean a lot to you and the charities you help.
But as noted above, its vital you do your research first and speak with legal experts.
How can I be sure if including a charitable donation is right?
Writing your Will and deciding what to leave or donate to charities can be challenging. It is always best before making any decisions about your Will to speak with legal experts who can advise and support you.
If you have already written your Will and a charitable donation isn’t included and you are considering leaving a donation, legal experts can also help you edit your Will and ensure it covers exactly what you want.
At Palmers, we have an experienced, expert team on hand to guide you through the Wills process, how to include charitable donations, the research you should undertake before making any decisions and the potential tax implications. Contact our team today for more information on writing or update your Will and including charitable donations.
