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Making
a Will
Making
a Will is very important. 70% of people die in the UK without making a Will, and
if you fail to make a Will and have no relatives all your assets go to the
Government. Making a Will is the only way to ensure that your money and property
goes where you would like.
Making
a Will can be complex and it is a false economy to write your own. It is best to
get quotes from solicitors in your area, and then talk through your intentions
with the chosen solicitor. Then your Will can be drawn exactly as you wish and
will achieve what you intend. After making all necessary provision for your
dependants, you might decide to leave a legacy to one or more of your favoured
charities.
Changing
your Will
If
you have already made a Will, a simple Codicil can be added to it to change any
of the provisions in it. If you decide that you now wish to support a charity,
the solicitor who helped you with the original Will can advise you how to add a
simple Codicil to it.
Different
types of legacy
There
are two main ways for supporters to leave money to charities:
1
Leaving a set amount. This is called a pecuniary legacy and the only
disadvantage is that the real value of your gift is eroded over time, so may end
up being of less value than you intended.
2
Leaving all or part of what’s left over. This is called a residuary
legacy, as the residue is what is left after you have made specific provisions
for your relatives and friends. This may give you peace of mind as you know that
your family have been provided for and that the legal and other costs will be
taken from your estate, then the balance left over can go to helping your
favourite charity or charities.
Inheritance
Tax
UK
Inheritance Tax affects all estates exceeding currently £325,000. This might
seem a substantial amount, but many older people own their homes and this alone
is taking large numbers of people into the Inheritance Tax net. Inheritance Tax
is charged at 40% on the value of assets above £325,000.
However,
legacies left to registered UK charities are exempt from Inheritance Tax, so if
someone with an estate valued at £365,000 had left a legacy of £40,000 to a
charity, Inheritance Tax would be avoided.
The
Government is further encouraging people to remember charities in their Wills.
People dying on or after 6th April 2012, will have the rate of Inheritance Tax
cut to 36% if they have left at least 10% of their net estate to charities.
Greyhounds
in Need
Legacies
make a vital contribution to the UK charitable sector and major charities
receive half their income from legacies. A legacy is a fine way for supporters
to help GIN carry on its work with greyhounds, both in Spain and elsewhere. GIN
was founded to help abandoned greyhounds in Spain and still devotes most of its
efforts and funds to Spanish greyhounds. Legacies cost nothing during a
lifetime, but remembering GIN by leaving a legacy, will help GIN to continue
saving greyhounds. If you have included a legacy to GIN in your Will, please let
us know. It tells us that we are getting our messages to people who count, and
enables GIN to keep you up to date with our progress.