Charitable Legacies and Inheritance Tax Liability

The number of estates leaving charitable legacies fell from 37,637 to 33,120 between 2018 and 2019, the first decline in a decade, according to Smee & Ford’s Legacy Trends Report 2020. Reported total legacy income was GBP2.9 billion in the year, down from GBP3 billion in each of the previous two years. Charitable estates were worth GBP16.5 billion in 2019, GBP1.3 billion below the 2018 figure. Just over 18 per cent of the total value of charitable estates went to charities, with 37.5 per cent of charitable wills nominating a single charity.

Apart from the benefit to your chosen charity or charities, leaving part of your estate to charity in your Will can have the effect of reducing the inheritance tax liability on your estate.  We can provide advice in relation to leaving legacies to charity in your wills and prepare wills with the necessary clauses to take advantage of the reduced rate of inheritance tax.

For further advice contact Christina Grinham, Solicitor at Coole Bevis LLP on 01403 224629 or by email at christina.grinham@coolebevisllp.com.