Frequently asked questions legacies

The Wildlife Trusts are members of Remember a Charity, an organisation dedicated to raising awareness of remembering charities in Wills and making the process as simple as possible. They have created an easy to follow guide for getting started on your Will.

Alternatively, contact a qualified legal professional. The Law Society can provide you with a directory of solicitors near you.

Absolutely. We are so grateful for any amount you feel able to leave in your Will for wildlife and all gifts make a difference. You can find out more about our legacy pledgers and how their gifts will help wildlife here.

There are three types of gift you can leave in your Will:

• A specific sum; This is a gift of a set amount of money.
• A share of your estate; This is a percentage of your estate after all other gifts and expenses have been paid. These gifts are very important to us as they usually maintain their value or increase over time. This also means you're less likely to need to amend it in the future.
• A specific item; This could be something valuable such as a painting, antique, property or shares that we would sell.

While we’re unable to provide specific legal advice, we are happy to talk to you about how your gift could be used to protect wildlife. Remember a Charity work with many Will writing professionals and solicitors that can help you to write or update your Will. The Law Society can also provide you with a list of local solicitors.

The cost of writing a Will varies depending on how complicated it is.  Although, during the year some of The Wildlife Trusts offer a free or discounted Will writing service. Contact your local Wildlife Trust for details.

It’s worth thinking about what you want to include in your Will before seeing a solicitor. You should consider:

• Consider who you would like to be your executor, the person who will carry out the wishes in your Will.
• What money and belongings do you have? For example, property, savings, pensions, insurance policies and bank accounts.
• Who do you want to remember in your Will? List all your family members, friends and the causes you care about.

If you already have a Will and would like to make some small changes, you do not need to make a new Will. Instead you can add a codicil to your Will and send it to your solicitor. A codicil is a document which allows you to make changes or additions to an existing Will and must be read in conjunction with it.

At the moment, if you leave a gift to The Wildlife Trusts in your Will it will not be included when valuing your estate for Inheritance Tax purposes. The value of your gift will be deducted from your estate before Inheritance Tax is applied. However, please be aware that Inheritance Tax rules can change so it’s always best to discuss your Will and the type of gift you might like to leave with your chosen solicitor.

If you decide to include a gift to The Wildlife Trusts, it’s easy.

All you have to do is give your solicitor the registered address and registered charity number of the Wildlife Trust/s and your solicitor will do the rest.

You can include a gift in your Will to one or more Wildlife Trusts, or to the UK-wide movement. If you wish to do the latter, please include use this information when making your Will:

Full name: The Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts

Registered Charity No: 207238

Our address: The Kiln, Waterside, Mather Road, Newark, Nottinghamshire, NG24 1WT

If you’ve decided you want to remember The Wildlife Trusts in your Will, you can take the following wording to your solicitor. They will make sure your Will is valid and that your wishes are followed.

• A specific sum of money

My bequest to … Wildlife Trust for a set sum - a pecuniary legacy "I give free of tax to … Wildlife Trust (Registered charity number …..  of (insert address), the sum of £______ for the general purposes of the Wildlife Trust and I declare that the receipt of their Treasurer or other proper officer shall be a full and sufficient discharge.

• A share of your estate

My bequest to …. Wildlife Trust of the residual estate (or a proportion of) - a residuary or percentage legacy "Subject to the payment of my debts, funeral and testamentary expenses, I give the whole (residuary) or ______% of my estate not otherwise disposed of by this my Will to ... Wildlife Trust (Registered charity numbers …  of (insert address), for the general purposes of … Wildlife Trust and I declare that the receipt of their Treasurer or other proper officer shall be a full and sufficient discharge.

We really appreciate hearing that you have thought of The Wildlife Trusts when making your Will. It allows us to say a big thank you for your generosity and if you’d like to hear from us, keep you up to date with the work that our supporters make possible. You can make changes to your Will whenever you want to and letting us know that you’ve thought of us in your Will is not legally binding in any way.

It’s your Will, and you are entitled to change it as and when you want to. If you do, we would be very grateful to hear from you if you have changed, added, or removed a gift to The Wildlife Trusts from your previous Will.