Legacy Giving to a Charity
Posted on 5th, February 2012
Legacy giving to a charity is a very worthwhile way to distribute a part of your worldy goods through your will after you are gone. Charities depend on donations of all kinds and legacy giving is perhaps one of the easiest ways to make a donation to a charity that you admire and believe in.
If you already have a will it can be amended quite easily to include a legacy gift. You don't have to make a completely new will with the additional cost that will entail. You can simply have a codicil made. It a bit like an appendix to your main will in a way. It is every bit as legal as the main document and acts something like an amendment to it. It will not cost nearly as much as making a brand new will, and you can do it quickly and easily through your solicitor.
Perhaps you don't already have a will. That can easily be solved, and it should be too. Wills are not just for old people, or people who have contracted a terminal disease. Wills are for everyone. It is the tool we all have access to that lets us state exactly how we would like to see our worldly wealth distributed afetr we die. It is not a morbid thing. It is a simple legal document that tidies up all the loose ends in preparation for the inevitable.
Making a will to include legacy giving to a charity at the same time you consider your family is a good idea. It will put the whole thing into perspective. Bear in mind that your family should always come first. They should be cared for adequately before you do anything else. Besides, they have rights by law, and if on a whim you decide to give all your wealth to a charity, the law may decide otherwise. You should always be directed and guided by your solicitor on this point.
Leaving something to a charity, rather than taking some of your money away from your family who deserve it most, could actually help them. It could significantly reduce the inheritance tax burden they are likely to face, and could leave them with more than they would have otherwise. It doesn't seem to make much sense, but it might actually work out like that.
This is perhaps the biggest sticking point with most people to leaving a gift to a charity; that their family will lose out. Legacy giving to a charity could, depending on the individual circumstances, provide them with more, or at least reduce the tax burden they might face.
