Helpful information

Making a Will

When creating a new Will, it's useful to have an understanding of:

• everything you own

• everything you owe

• who you’d like to leave a gift to

• who you’d like to be responsible for your Will when the time comes

This step-by-step guide helps you record this information, so you're prepared when you talk to your solicitor.

Updating My Will

If you already have a Will, updating it to include a gift to the ROS is a straightforward process.

It’s good practice to regularly update your Will to reflect changes in your life. Your solicitor can do this for you by drawing up a Codicil. This is a legal document that allows you to make minor alterations to your existing Will without redrafting the whole document.

Our leaflet about updating your Will gives you more information about how to do this.

Types of gifts

To help make all this a bit easier, we've put together some example wording, which you can use if you decide to include the ROS in your Will.

A portion of your estate (Residuary gift)
This is a percentage or share of your estate. For example, you could leave 10% or a fifth of your total estate. This is known as a residuary gift.

A lump sum (Pecuniary gift)
You might choose to leave a fixed amount, such as £100, £1,000, £10,000 etc.

A special item (Specific gift)
Valuable items, for example you might choose to leave an antique, jewellery or shares to us.

Tax Information

Gifts in Wills to charities are not taxed.

If your estate is eligible for inheritance tax, any gift you leave to the ROS is deducted from your estate before tax is calculated.

For example: if your estate is £20,000 over the tax-free allowance (add current allowance?), and you leave the ROS £2,000, inheritance tax is only payable on £18,000.

It's also worth noting that if 10% or more of an estate is left to a charity, the rest of the estate is taxed at a lower rate (36% rather than 40%).