Why should I leave a gift to a charity in my Will?

Leaving a gift to a charity in your Will can make a huge difference to the causes that you care about. Better still, valuable inheritance tax reliefs apply to gifts left to charity, as the amount left to the charity is exempt for inheritance tax purposes.

In addition, where your estate is liable for inheritance tax, if you leave at least 10% of your net estate to charity, not only is the gift to the charity exempt from inheritance tax itself, the rate at which inheritance tax is charged on the rest of your estate is reduced from 40% to 36%.

This means that it is possible for you to structure your Will in such a way as to ensure that your nearest and dearest are taken care of, the overall tax bill is reduced, and your favourite charities can benefit as well. It also provides peace of mind knowing that the funds deducted from your estate are spent on issues that really matter to you, rather than paying inheritance tax and adding the funds to the Treasury for them to dispose of as they think fit.

Should you require further information on how to leave gifts to charity or setting up Wills in general please telephone Sampson Coward on 01722 410664 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.