Why gifts in wills matter?

Every gift we receive from our supporters, no matter how large or small, makes a real and tangible difference to the lives of the Owls we help and care for. Even a small percentage of your estate can make a big difference to charity. Without this generosity we simply wouldn’t be able to carry out much of our day to day work.

Making a will is the only way of making sure that your property and possessions will go to the people and causes that you care about after your death. Owlrescue always recommends that you seek professional legal advice in drawing up or amending your will.

What types of gifts in wills are there?

There are three main types of gifts in wills (also known as legacies) – residuary, pecuniary, and specific.

A residuary legacy is when a person leaves a percentage of their estate after all the other legacies have been made and debts cleared. One of the advantages of a residuary legacy is that it has the benefit of being inflation-proof and means you’re less likely to need to update your will in the future.

A pecuniary legacy is a gift of a specified sum of money. To prevent its real value decreasing over time this gift can be index linked to the Retail Price Index.

A specific legacy is a gift of a particular item, such as property, antiques, jewellery and stocks.

What about Inheritance Tax?

Any gift made in your will to Owlrescue also has the added benefit of being exempt from Inheritance Tax (IHT) and could even reduce the liability for your loved ones if your estate is over the IHT threshold. For further information, please visit HM Revenue and Customs website.

Suggested wordings?

If you would like to remember Owlrescue in your Will, but are not entirely sure of the best way of doing this, you may find this document useful as it contains explanations of the most common ways of leaving a gift and some suggested wordings that may help your solicitor in drawing up your will.

Will_Wording.pdf

Codicil?

If you have already made a will but would like to add in a gift to Owlrescue, you can do this with a Codicil Form. This simple form allows you to amend or add to your will without having to write a new one. It needs to be signed in the presence of two witnesses – these witnesses cannot be a beneficiary of your will or codicil, or their spouse or civil partner.

Codicil_Form.pdf