The Lemon Fool

Geoff

I would think about why you need to keep the money now, if you don't see yourself using it or needing it then consider giving the money away while you are alive.

My Mum for example brought the local school some audio equipment that they were trying to raise money for. She was able then to see the enjoyment people were recieving from her gift everytime she attended a show at the school. Local charities are always raising money for something and if you like the idea, then donate.

Also consider matched funding as its very powerful, giving a local charity 5k when they need 10k is good; but it is more powerful to give the same 5k once they have raised 5k.

Paul

You may not see yourself needing much money in your remaining years but that could change dramatically were you or someone close suffer a sudden stroke or similar catastrophe. Worthwhile having the funds for quality care rather than a low-end home.

yorkshirelad1 wrote:

Clitheroekid wrote:Finally, I would ask you to consider whether giving such large amounts to a `big charity' is making the best use of your estate. I have spent decades dealing with these charities, and many of them can only be described as rapacious. They have an arrangement whereby they check every Will that's admitted to probate, and as soon as they see their name they immediately contact the executor / solicitor to stake their claim.

I read a very useful comment along these lines on TLF a little while ago (and I believe the comments may have come from your good self, CK, so credit given if applicable; if I have some time I'll try and track down my original source .... here it it: https://www.lemonfool.co.uk/viewtopic.php?p=261369#p261488). Basically the suggestion was to leave an amount for charitable purposes in your will (and if it's over 10% of the estate, IHT, if applicable is reduced from 40% to 36%), giving executors discretion as to which charity, but leaving a letter of wishes with the will suggesting the charities that the executors might consider. A letter of wishes is not published with the will. This has the advantage that

1. the will will not contain the name of a charity, so the exors won't get chased by a charity
2. if the charities change, or dissolve, the will itself doesn't have to be changed
3. if the person making the will wants to change the list of charities, changing/updating a letter of wishes is a bit simpler than updating/changing a will

That's a good idea but I feel quite strongly about my choice of charities. I do not want to leave money to 'charity' I want to leave money to particular charities.

Dod

I wouldn't like to think that only 10p out of my £10 donation was spent on the problem. £9.90 on running the charity. Seems very inefficient.

CliffEdge wrote:I wouldn't like to think that only 10p out of my £10 donation was spent on the problem. £9.90 on running the charity. Seems very inefficient.

That is not the situation with Macmillan or other large charities. If I leave them £1 million (for example) in my Will, that money will be spent on charitable activities. I can specify that in my Will if I doubt it. They do not have to spend anything to raise that money. If I put £10 in a bucket at one of their fund raising events, it may well be that my share of the cost of running that event is £9.90, but I do not do that.

My Will gives a relatively small fixed sum to family members and the remainder to Macmillan. That does not preclude me giving money to Macmillan or other charities while I am alive. I have already done that. I have the option of donating excess income tax free, or paying 20% tax on it and then donating it when I die. That makes some sense when I potentially have decades to live, are getting a good return on my money and could fall on harder times. It is difficult to justify paying 40% tax. I make charitable donations to prevent that happening.

Rather than fixed sums to family members you might consider %ages of the estate. 20 or 30 years of even quite modest inflation has a large impact.

Best wishes,

Steve

Steveam wrote:Rather than fixed sums to family members you might consider %ages of the estate. 20 or 30 years of even quite modest inflation has a large impact.

I do not think that it would happen, but that potentially opens the way for a court battle to decide what was the total value of the estate. Fixed sums avoid the possibility of that happening. I could uprate the fixed sums by inflation, but that is not big issue at the moment.

Hi Geoff, I have some experience with the inflation issue ... My maternal grandfather died in the mid 70s having made his Will 30 years before. He was relatively well off and in his Will left £1000 to each of his children and £500 to each of his grandchildren. When he made the Will £500 would have been a decent deposit on a house, by the time he died it was very welcome but not life changing.

Best wishes,

Steve