Leave a legacy gift
Why leave a gift in your will?
Making a Will gives you the freedom to decide how you would like your assets to be distributed after your death and can save your loved ones a considerable amount of time and heartache. It can also help you distribute your estate in a tax-efficient manner. Gifts to charities such as Children of the Mekong are exempt from inheritance tax.
By leaving a gift in your Will you can help to improve the education of children from Southeast Asia. Indeed if you leave a gift for Children of the Mekong in your Will, it will allow us to improve education for a future generation, by building new schools and sponsoring more children.
By leaving a legacy, you leave a footprint for future generations. Your legacy can make a big difference for underprivileged children.
Tax Benefits of Leaving a Legacy
Leaving a gift in your Will to a registered charity like Children of the Mekong can significantly reduce the amount of Inheritance Tax (IHT) you have to pay on your estate.
Charitable gifts are entirely exempt from IHT, meaning they are deducted from the taxable value of your estate. Additionally, if you leave at least 10% of your taxable estate to charity, the IHT rate on the remaining estate is reduced from 40% to 36%. This means your legacy not only helps vulnerable children access education but also ensures that more of your wealth is directed toward meaningful causes rather than taxation.
What is the process?
If you already have a solicitor you should contact them to make suitable arrangements. If not, use this simple step by step guide.
Preparing a Will
First of all, make a list of:
1. Your financial assets (e.g. bank accounts, stocks and shares, pensions and life insurance policies);
2. Your other assets (e.g. your home, household contents and personal items such as a car or jewellery)
3. Your debts (outstanding mortgage, loans, overdraft, credit cards, etc).
Note down the approximate values of everything and calculate roughly what your net wealth is. Think about whom you would like to benefit from this net wealth on your death; your family, friends and hopefully Children of the Mekong. Also, think about how you would like them to benefit (see the section headed “ What types of gift?” below for some ideas). Consider who should be appointed as your executor or executors. Executors are the people who will control and administer your assets on your death. They will be responsible for paying debts and taxes and giving effect to the provisions of your Will. They are also likely to be the first trustees of any trusts created by your Will. It is sensible to appoint more than one executor should any executor be unable or unwilling to fulfil their duties.
Once you have all this information to hand, arrange to see a solicitor who specialises in the drafting of wills and tax planning to have your Will drawn up. You can find a solicitor using the following websites: 1. England and Wales: https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/ 2. Scotland: https://www.lawscot.org.uk/ 3. Northern Ireland: https://www.lawsoc-ni.org/
You can also contact STEP, a professional body for solicitors working in this field, for details of a suitable advisor in your area (www.step.org).
If you already have a Will
If you have already made a Will, you can still help Children of the Mekong by adding a Codicil. A Codicil effectively adds new provisions to your existing Will. The template Codicil is designed to insert a gift or gifts to Children of the Mekong into your Will. Whether you use the template Codicil or not, we strongly recommend that you see a solicitor to ensure that the Codicil you make gives effect to your wishes and does not conflict with your existing Will.
Storing your Will or Codicil
Keep a copy of your Will and any Codicil for future reference and remember where you keep the details of your financial and other assets. It is useful to tell someone you trust of the whereabouts of these documents. Store your original Will or Codicil in a safe place, letting your executor or someone you trust know where it is. The Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) can provide you with information on storing your Will or Codicil. Alternatively, you can store your Will or any Codicil at your bank or with your solicitor. This service may be provided free of charge or there may be a small fee.
Let us know
Please let us know if you leave a gift to Children of the Mekong in your Will or Codicil so that we can thank you, and keep a record of your pledge. This helps the charity plan for the future. Your intentions will be kept in the strictest confidence and letting us know does not prevent you from changing your mind at any time. You can let us know by completing the pledge form.
What types of gift
Gifts on death can take many forms. You might consider one of the following types of gift to benefit Children of the Mekong: · a specific sum of money; · a share of your residuary estate (broadly, a share of whatever is left over after all of your specific legacies, the expenses of administering your estate and any taxes have been paid); and/or · a specific asset or assets (e.g. a work of art or a shareholding).
What’s next?
Children of the Mekong will carry on to do a follow up with your family. We will provide them with information on how your donation made a difference for children.
Contact our team today to get personalized information on legacy gifts.