THE ADVANTAGES OF A LEGACY IN YOUR WILL
• Legacies are made from the value of your estate rather than from cash flow
• Legacies made to charities are exempt from Inheritance Tax (IHT)
• As an example, if you should choose to leave £10,000 to a charity, this would save your estate 40% in IHT (£4,000), thereby ‘costing’ a donor's estate just £6,000
• It is worth bearing in mind that, under current legislation, a deceased’s estate that gives at least 10% to charities reduces the amount of IHT paid from 40% to 36%
• Consequently, if you leave 4% to charities, you may as well leave 10% since the net effect to your other beneficiaries will be identical
• Winchester College is a registered charity (no. 1139000).
TYPES OF LEGACY
Residuary
A specific share of an estate is left to Winchester College, usually by stating a percentage or a fraction of the whole.
Pecuniary
A specific sum of money (or other asset) is left to Winchester College.
Indexed
To ensure that the real value of a Pecuniary Legacy is protected, it is index-linked to inflation.
OTHER FACTORS
Making provision for a surviving spouse
Many are concerned that there is enough capital left in their estate to support their surviving spouse. This can be ensured by both spouses agreeing to make due mention in their Will or Codicil, to the effect that the legacy to Winchester College is only paid out on the second death.
LEGAL ADVICE
We would always recommend that you should seek legal advice. Patrick Walker, Development Associate at Winchester College Society, is happy to provide initial guidance and to provide you with simple Codicil forms, should you wish to adopt this approach.