Legacy arrangements

Do you want to leave conditional gifts in your will?

Are you thinking of leaving a gift to charity in your will?

When you are making a will, you can specify how you would like your estate to be distributed and to whom.

Leaving gifts to friends and relatives in your will is your personal decision and you may choose to impose certain conditions. For example, if the beneficiary is a child you may specify when the legacy is payable, or your could create a trust so that while a benefit can be enjoyed by one generation, the asset passes onto the next.

Donations to charitable causes made through your will have many implications that need to be carefully considered. Problems can arise if wording is too restrictive; for example if a charity ceases to operation or the specific activity you wish to support ends.

Family members may dispute the charity’s claim from the estate. While there are inheritance tax allowances for donations to charities, executors must ensure that it is a bona fide registered charity when overseeing the legacy.

The team at Myers & Co solicitors have an extensive experience of creating legacy arrangements when making a will and administering gifts to charities in the probate process. We will guide you on the inheritance tax implications of your gifts. We can also add a ‘letter of intention’ to clarify your wishes, and minimise the risk of a disputed will, trust or probate.

Myers & Co solicitors can also act as a professional executor or trustee if required or, advise those which have been appointed under the will in carrying out these duties.

Based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, our specialist wills and probate solicitors provides services throughout Staffordshire and Cheshire.  To find out more, contact us on 01782 577000.