Making a Will can seem daunting but with the right professional advice it doesn’t have to be.
Here are some frequently asked questions:-
WHY SHOULD I MAKE A WILL?
If you do not manage to make a Will during your lifetime, your property will be distributed according to the current law of intestacy (the Administration of Estates Act). If you die intestate, regardless of your wishes, your spouse or registered civil partner will not automatically inherit your entire estate. Therefore to ensure that your personal wishes are carried out you should make a Will.
HOW DO I LEAVE A GIFT TO WAKEFIELD HOSPICE
You will need to include a provision in your Will indicating what you propose to leave to the Hospice and identifying it as the intended recipient.
DO I HAVE ENOUGH TO LEAVE A LEGACY
Any gift left to Wakefield Hospice is important to us whatever the value from modest amounts of money to much larger gifts including money, jewellery, furniture and property.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A PECUNIARY, RESIDUARY AND A SPECIFIC BEQUEST?
A pecuniary legacy is a fixed sum of money or a defined share with others of a fixed sum of moneyIt is worth noting that pecuniary bequests tend to decrease in value over time due to rises in inflation and need to be reviewed in order to maintain their original intended value.It is also possible to index link a pecuniary legacy to ensure that the legacy maintains its intended value.
A residuary legacy is the gift of the remainder of your estate (or a percentage or fraction of the remainder) after all other gifts to friends and family have been distributed and all costs and expenses, such as the funeral account, have been dealt with. If you leave your whole estate as a gift, this is also known as a residuary legacy. A residuary legacy’s value increases or reduces according to the value of the estate in line with inflation.
A specific bequest refers to the gift of a particular item of value, other than money, that has been left in your Will, for example, stocks and shares, property, life insurance policies or jewellery.
HOW DO I CHANGE AN EXISTING WILL TO INCLUDE A LEGACY TO WAKEFIELD HOSPICE?
This can easily be achieved by making an addition to your Will by signing a further document called a codicil. The original Will and codicil are then read together. It is important that you take professional advice about this.As an alternative you might simply ask you solicitor to prepare an entirely new Will which incorporates the original provisions and the additional gift in just one document.
WHAT IS INHERITANCE TAX AND HOW MUCH WILL I HAVE TO PAY?
This is a complicated matter and not something that can easily be covered in a Newsletter such as this. Simply put, if you leave an estate worth more than £312,000 then you pay Inheritance Tax on the excess over that sum at 40%. Thus if you leave £362,000 the excess over £312,000 is £50,000 and the tax would be £20,000 (£50,000 x 40%). However gifts to a surviving spouse or civil partner, or to charities such as the Hospice, are excluded from the effect of the Tax. If you think that your estate may be liable to Inheritance Tax and you wish to try and avoid or reduce the liability, you should seek the advice of your solicitor, accountant or financial adviser.
If and when the time is right to make your Will please remember Wakefield Hospice. Your gift will help to ensure that we can continue to provide specialist care to those facing a life threatening illness.
If you would like further information about leaving a gift to Wakefield Hospice please contact us on 01924 213900 or email keeley.harrison@wakefieldhospice.co.uk
