Gifts, Legacies & Inheritance Tax

 Gifts to Cowbridge Charter Trust cio.

We welcome gifts for the Trust’s general purposes. As we are all volunteers we keep the costs to a minimum but even so every year some expenditure is unavoidable, so gifts of money do help us to achieve the Trust’s objects.

Large or small, it helps if we can obtain the additional benefit of the tax relief from your gift by Gift Aid. If you do pay tax, please download the form by clicking on "Gift Aid Form" at the bottom of the page, sign it and send it with your cheque made payable to “Cowbridge Charter Trust cio” to me at the address below, or to pay by debit or credit card on-line click on the "button" on the "Members" page.

For larger gifts (£5,000 or more) you may have a special project or specific purpose in mind. We are always prepared to discuss these and would want to agree with you how such a gift is to be used and in that case do please email me through the "contact us" page.

A Legacy to Cowbridge Charter Trust.

After you have made provision for family and friends a charitable gift to the Trust would help us in our objects. Wills are complicated legal documents which are best dealt with by your solicitor, bank or other qualified person.

However, these are a few points to consider:

Your intention as to use of the gift - an "instruction" or a "wish":

If you leave the Trust an amount or asset of substantial value (£5,000 or more) you might like to indicate how you would want your bequest to be used.

If you leave an "instruction" it is important to bear in mind that the Trustees may be unable, for a variety of reasons, to comply with that instruction in which case the bequest would fail; the Trust would lose the benefit of your intended bequest and the value of the failed gift would remain included in your estate for inheritance tax purposes.

A better option may be to express your intentions as a "wish". If we were able to achieve your intention, that would have priority in the use of your bequest. Even if we were unable to do so immediately we would bear your wishes in mind in case we could do so in the future; a moral obligation we would willingly undertake.

Inheritance Tax:

If you leave a gift to Cowbridge Charter Trust in your will, its value will not be included when valuing your estate for Inheritance Tax.

If your estate would be liable for Inheritance Tax (at, say, 40%), a legacy to the Trust would mean that your residuary beneficiaries would lose only 60% of the value of the legacy. So for example, a legacy of £10,000 to the Trust would only reduce the residue going to them by £6,000.

Fixed cash sum (a legacy) or a share of your estate (the residue):

The advantage of a cash sum is that the amount of your gift is certain and it is paid out before the residue. A disadvantage is that the value diminishes over time due to inflation so you need to review your will every few years.

An alternative is to leave the Trust a share of the residue of your estate. However the Inheritance Tax calculations can be complicated so you would need to consult your specialist advisor.

Do please contact us if you would like to discuss a bequest or find out more about it.