Our trustee, Chris Clark, explains legacy gifts

I took the decision to write my will recently and chose to use an online service called FreeWill. Freewill provides an online guided template to help you to complete a legally-appropriate will, whilst avoiding high solicitor fees.

As part of writing my will I included a wish to make a donation to a number of registered charities, including MindOut, upon my death. The website included a search function and drop-down list to help me find the charities I was looking for. I assume this is linked to the charities commission database.

Initially I selected for a percentage of my total estate to be gifted to the charities, before the remaining estate is divide amongst my beneficiaries. The FreeWill legal service brought to my attention known issues that can arise by quantifying a gift as a percentage of an estate, as the value of the gift is dependent on the value of the estate (which may include the sale value of property) which can be disputed.

As an alternative suggestion to avoid this issue, it was suggested that gifts to charities should be stated as fixed amounts of money, rather than a percentage. This avoids any open interpretation or complication. Following this suggestion, I made the change and completed my will.

I found the process fairly easy to complete and was able to work on drafts of my will following the feedback from the service, at no extra cost.

I decided to make donations in my will, as I would be able to afford a much larger donation (because I won’t need the money anymore!) than I could whilst I’m still alive.

Putting MindOut in my will did however prompt me to also select it as my Amazon Smile charity of choice which means I can still contribute something during my life.

 

MindOut is here today due to a legacy gift in 2011. If you are considering leaving us a gift in your will, please see below wording for a MindOut (pecuniary) legacy clause that can be added to a will:

I GIVE to MINDOUT LGB&T MENTAL HEALTH PROJECT of Community Base 113 Queens Road  Brighton  BN1 3XG  (Registered Charity No. 1140098) the sum of [NUMBER IN CAPITAL LETTERS] POUNDS (£NUMBER) for its general purposes

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