Legacies
A
former Chairman of the Diocesan Board of Finance has recently
left 10% of his estate to the diocese. It is a generous
legacy and one which will be invested for the benefit of
the Church in Suffolk.
Legacies
are very important to the Church and greatly valued. In
2001, they were worth £34m to local churches across
the country.
This
page is for individuals considering leaving money to the
Church or for PCCs promoting legacies. While we hope the
information will be useful, it is not and should not be
construed as legal or tax advice.
There
are a number of key issues to consider:
- You
are strongly recommended to seek the guidance of a solicitor
when you make your Will so that your intentions can
be fully carried out. Please do not write your own Will
as many mistakes and misunderstandings can arise: for
example, the term ‘children’ does not include
stepchildren.
- It
is important to take the interest of your family, and
other close associates, into account when deciding to
benefit the Church with a legacy, particularly if you
have dependents. You may wish to talk this over with
a close relative.
- Please
ensure that witnesses of a will benefiting the Church
are independent of the Church.
- To
avoid problems of identity and description please ensure
that the name of the PCC, church name and address is
clearly identified. As a registered place of worship
your parish church is currently an exempt charity under
the Charities Act 1993 and therefore does not have a
charity registration number. It is, however, still a
charity and the tax benefits apply. If you are remembering
a Church based charity then you will need to state the
charity registration number. If at all unsure the Charity
Commission has a central register which details every
registered charity in England and Wales and appears
on its website: www.charitycommission.gov.uk.
Details of name, address, telephone number and registration
number can also be obtained by telephoning the Charity
Commission General Enquiries Line on 0870 333 0123.
If the charity does not appear on the register then
it could be that it is exempt from registration so the
charity should be contacted directly.
- You
may wish to discuss with your solicitor whether the
legacy should be a straight sum of money, a pecuniary
legacy, or a share of an estate, a residuary
bequest. Legacies can be made for specific
restricted purposes – such as
the Church fabric – or totally unrestricted.
- Generally
speaking, gifts to charities by will are exempt from
inheritance tax. For further details see a copy of The
Inheritance Tax Act 1984, s41.You
should also be careful if you decide to split a residuary
bequest between a charitable beneficiary, exempt from
inheritance tax, and a chargeable beneficiary such as
a private individual. You should ensure that the charity
receives its share under the gross division rather than
net division approach – in other words that inheritance
tax is not deducted before the estate is divided.
All
of these tax considerations show why it is a good idea
to engage a legally qualified adviser when drawing up
your Will!
- If
you are a PCC member thinking of running a legacy campaign,
please see the Institute of Fundraising’s Codes
on legacy fundraising at www.institute-of-fundraising.org.uk
Choice
is important. You can leave money to the Church
either at a parish, diocesan or national level. An unrestricted
legacy gives the Church greater freedom to apply the funds
where they are most needed. The following categories may
help.
Parish
level
Many parishioners like to remember their parish church in
their will. Here are some specimen wordings for solicitors
drawing up wills:
A percentage of your estate
to your Parish
I give x% of my residuary estate to the Parochial Church
Council of x in the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich
free of duty and I declare that the receipt of the Treasurer
or other proper Officer of the council shall be a sufficient
discharge to my Trustees.
A
gift of money to your Parish
I give to the Parochial Church Council of the Parish of
x in the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich the sum of
£x free of duty and I declare that the receipt of
the Treasurer or other proper Officer of the council shall
be a sufficient discharge to my Trustees.
Diocesan
level
A
legacy can also be left to the diocese in general by leaving
it to the Diocesan Board of Finance. This will enable the
legacy to be applied for the benefit of all the parishes
within the diocese. The details to give to your solicitor
are:
The St Edmundsbury and Ipswich Diocesan Board of
Finance
Registered Office: Churchgates House, Cutler Street, Ipswich
IP1 1UQ
Charity Registration number: 248919
Telephone: 01473 298524
A
gift of money to the Diocese
I
give the sum of £x free of duty to the St Edmundsbury
and Ipswich Diocesan Board of Finance having its registered
Office at Churchgates House, Cutler Street, Ipswich IP1
1UQ and I declare that the receipt of the Secretary for
the time being of the Board shall be a sufficient discharge
to my Trustees
A
percentage of your estate to the Diocese
I give x% of my residuary estate free of duty to the St
Edmundsbury and Ipswich Diocesan Board of Finance having
its registered Office at Churchgates House, Cutler Street,
Ipswich IP1 1UQ and I declare that the receipt of the Secretary
for the time being of the Board shall be a sufficient discharge
to my Trustees.
National
level
The Central Church Fund was established
in 1915 to help provide for the general needs of the Church
of England. It is the only central fund available to the
Church of England to support its activities at all levels
and in all areas. The Fund offers grants and loans to a
wide variety of diocesan, deanery and (most frequently)
parish projects.
Applications
from projects which show imagination in responding to need
and which seek to bridge a gap between the Church and the
local community are particularly welcome. Information can
be found on www.centralchurchfund.org.uk
For
further information contact:
The Secretary
The Central Church Fund
Central Board of Finance of the Church of England
Church House
Great Smith Street
London SW1P 3NZ
Tel: 020 7898 1000
Missionary
Societies
Missionary Societies of the Church of England could also
be considered. Details, for example of the United Society
for the Propagation of the Gospel can be found on www.uspg.org.uk
Resources
The Church of England has produced a leaflet ‘Yesterday,
today, forever’ which is available in packs of 50
with a poster for £5 from the Church House Bookshop,
www.chbookshop.co.uk
or telephone 020 7898 1300. There is even a free poster
of Alan Titchmarsh that comes with every order, for those
of you who like that sort of thing. Alan Titchmarsh writes
in the leaflet, “leaving a gift in your will to the
church is one way you can make a real and lasting difference.”
Useful
websites
www.rememberacharity.org.uk
A new campaign, Remember a Charity, has
been set up by over 100 charities to increase charitable
funding by encouraging donations to charity in wills.
www.charityexplorer.com
A site giving advice on leaving money to charities.
www.smeeandford.co.uk
A company providing legacy services to charities
www.institute-of-fundraising.org.uk
Institute of fundraising
It
is possible to set up a Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) charitable
trust, where CAF acts as a trustee to distribute the income
and capital from the trust as the donor requires. Similarly,
it is possible to set up a CAF discretionary trust under
a will. Details can be found on: www.charitynet.org
or www.CAFonline.org
Email enquiries: enquiries@CAFonline.org
or telephone 01732 520000.
Please note:
Sites have been listed because they provide information
or services which may be of use to Church Treasurers and
other PCC members. The St Edmundsbury & Ipswich DBF
is not, through any link on its web site, endorsing any
specific product or service.
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