Will Gifts
So why do I need a Will?
Last year, approximately 74% of the people in the UK, did NOT leave a Will, reducing the value of their family's inheritance and causing untold problems and additional costs.
Without a Will ....
- Your husband or wife may not automatically inherit your entire estate.
- You may end up leaving property and possessions to somebody you had not intended to.
- You cannot prevent your family being eligible for a large tax bill of up to 40% on whatever exceeds the inheritance tax allowance. - the list goes on .....
Making a Will
Most of us like to think that we have everything covered and taken care of especially for our families. Yet at any one time, only about 25% of us have a Will in place. Making a Will ensures that you can provide for your family and can also enable you to leave other special gifts to charity and other organisations, giving you peace of mind. A Will is a legal document and legal words have precise meanings. It is strongly advised that you ask a solicitor to help you write your Will or when making amendments to an existing Will. In straightforward cases, this can cost between £50 and £100 and it may pay to shop around. Making a Will is important and so is regularly revising it.
A Lasting Commitment to Cransley Hospice and the Community Palliative Care Fund
Your gift will help Cransley Hospice and the Community Palliative Care Team provide care and support for people suffering from a disease or illness for which a cure is no longer an option. It will help purchase improvements for the Hospice such as new beds and additional equipment. It will help fund additional specialist staff who are not funded by the NHS. It will also provide treatment and encouragement for an ever-increasing number of people from within the local community - not just within the hospice itself, but also in their own homes.
HELP OUR FUTURE WITH A GIFT IN YOUR WILL
Different Ways of Making a Gift
- Once you have made sure that the people you care for are well looked after, the remainder (or residue) of your estate can be donated to Cransley Hospice and the Community Palliative Care Fund. This is known as a Residual Gift. A gift of this nature is not eroded by inflation.
- A specific cash Gift is known as a Pecuniary Gift. This type of gift is affected by inflation and you may wish to review the Gift periodically if the original value is to be retained.
- Specific items of property can include stocks and shares or items of jewellery.
- A Codicil is an addition to a Will, containing supplementary instructions, and is drawn up and witnessed in exactly the same way as a Will. It is a simple way in which people can add instructions to their Will without having the whole thing redrafted. For example they could draw up a codicil to add a £1,000 legacy to a charity such as ours.
Your solicitor will explain exactly how the different gifts work and will discuss the most appropriate for you.
Legacy gifts to a charity such as Cransley Hospice and the Community Palliative Care Fund are exempt from all Inheritance Tax, Capital Gains Tax and Income Tax. This means that the full value of your Gift will go straight towards helping to enhance the work of the highly specialised staff based within Cransley Hospice.
If you would like to talk to the Fundraiser at Cransley Hospice about how you can make a Gift in your Will, please contact Diana Patrick on 01536 527407.