Thank you for considering leaving a gift to the LSN in your will. Making a will and keeping it up to date is very important – it makes sure that your wishes are carried out and can help your family at a difficult time. Many people also use this as an opportunity to leave a financial gift to support a chosen charity.
The guidelines below are for your information only and should not be considered as an alternative for seeking the services of a legal professional. If all the current legal formalities are not correctly followed then your will could be declared invalid. You can find out information about local professionals who are equipped to carry out this service for you on the professional will writer’s website www.ipw.org.uk.
There are several basic steps that you need to consider as you write your will.
List your assets – make a list of all your significant possessions such as your car, house, savings, insurances, art work, stocks and shares as well as ‘special’ individual items such as pieces of jewellery that you may wish to gift to individuals. These items, as well as the contents of your house and items of no significant financial value, make up what is technically called your ‘estate’.
Decide who you would like to benefit from your will – you can choose to share your estate between anyone you wish, your spouse, family or friends. Alongside ensuring your loved ones have been provided for, you may also wish to leave a legacy to the Lymphoedema Support Network or other charity.
Decide what sort of gifts you would like to leave – there are different kinds of legacies and you can leave any kind or mix of gifts in your will.
The Four Main Types of Legacy Are:
Specific bequest – A gift of a particular item from your estate such as a piece of jewellery.
Pecuniary bequest – A gift of a fixed sum of money, these in effect become less valuable over time as the cost of living increases.
Residuary bequest – This is the gift of the remainder of your estate once all other gifts have been made, debts cleared and costs paid.
Contingent bequest – A gift in your will that depends on something else. An example of this might be a request that if all beneficiaries named in the will die before the person whose will it is then the estate reverts to a named charity.
Choose your executors
You can choose between two and four people who will be able to make sure the wishes in your will are carried out. You should ask their permission before naming them as executors on your will.
Visit a professional will writer or solicitor
This is very simple and should be easy if you have already decided what you wish to happen to your estate. They will also be able to advise you about any tax benefits of leaving a gift to charity. Make sure your loved ones are aware, or there is an easily found record of where your will is being kept.
Examples of Wording You May Wish to Use to Leave a Gift to the LSN
Residuary bequest Example
I give (%) of the residue of my real and personal estate which I can dispose of by will in any manner I think proper to The Lymphoedema Support Network (registered charity number 1193800) of St Luke’s Church Crypt, Sydney Street, London, SW3 6NH and the receipt of the Honorary Treasurer or other proper officer for the time being of the Lymphoedema Support Network shall be a complete discharge to my executors.
Pecuniary bequest Example
I give the sum of …….. pounds to The Lymphoedema Support Network (registered charity number 1193800) of St Luke’s Church Crypt, Sydney Street, London, SW3 6NH and the receipt of the Honorary Treasurer or other proper officer for the time being of the Lymphoedema Support Network shall be a complete discharge to my executors.
Please also ask your solicitor/will writer to insert the following clause:
If at my death the Lymphoedema Support Network or other charity named as a beneficiary in this will or any codicil hereto has changed its name or amalgamated with or transferred its assets to another body then my executors shall give effect to any gift made to such charity as if it had been made (in the first case) to the body which results from such amalgamation or to which such transfer has been made.