You will not even notice it’s gone but it will almost certainly be your biggest ever donation. You can be certain that any money that you leave to charity is put to very good use and, even better, that such gifts are inheritance-tax free and simple to organise.  What’s more, there’s lots of help available for setting up a legacy when Writing Your Will.

Most charities have extensive advice on their website, and almost all big charities employ a team which specialises in legacies. They’re often worth contacting directly, since they can answer any unusual questions, and can often help with writing your will. Caution, though. Some are slow to respond to enquiries, even if those enquiries concern large donations. So you may need to contact them more than once before you get any response. Here’s how to plan your legacy:

1) Decide exactly what you want to give. Legacy donations tend to be bigger than average. This means that, as a potential donor, you’ve got a lot of leverage over the charity. So you can often decide precisely what you want your money to pay for. You could fund anything from a well-building scheme to a puppy.  A few charities will even arrange visits to their projects if you are thinking of leaving a legacy when writing your Will, so you can see precisely where your money will be going. Don’t hesitate to ask awkward questions until you are satisfied with the arrangements.

And it’s not just your cash that can be turned to good causes. Homelessness charities are often after furniture, arts charities may well want your piano, and everyone wants your jewellery. The National Trust will even take the contents of your house if they are in good condition.

Unfortunately, legacies don’t qualify for gift-aid. So the tax-man won’t be adding to your donation when writing your Will. But they do escape the dreaded ‘inheritance tax’. Anything past the first £325,000 (as at August 2009)worth of items in your will gets taxed at a hefty 40% rate. But any money donated to charity isn’t counted towards that sum. This may be worth bearing in mind when deciding how much to give – why not leave some cash to a good cause – instead of giving a large chunk of it to the taxman?

2) Decide exactly how do you want to give it.  You can give a proportion (‘residuary’) of your estate, or a set amount (‘pecuniary’) when writing your Will. But keep an eye on the financial future – if you choose to donate a set amount of money now, inflation may mean it is worth considerably less when you die.

Don’t forget that charity lawyers will push for their client. There are horror stories of how lawyers acting on charities’ behalf have caused trauma by forcing speedy house-sales and estate breakups. While deciding what and how to give writing your Will, bear in mind that lawyers don’t become any nicer just because they’re working for a charity.  Charities will often ask you to tell them when you choose to leave a legacy, so that they can guess how much income will be coming in over the next few years. The information may be of some use for charities that make long-term plans. But don’t feel under any pressure to let them know.

3) Include the charitable donation writing your Will. There’s a lot of help available for those who want to write a new will, or alter an old one. If anything, charities are obsessed with getting their supporters to write wills. Quite a few charities have free will writing services for their members, where you can get your will written by a professional. You are never obliged to leave money to any charity when you use these, but the service costs the charity money, so they hope that you will remember them.

You can also write your own will. You can pick up a DIY Will Kit at Amazon. Charities will often have appropriate wording to add a donation to your will. Make sure the right charity gets your money by specifying its charity registration number in addition to its name when writing your Will. Many charities have similar names, and this has lead to confusion in the past (You wouldn’t want to set charities squabbling). Also make clear, when writing your Will, whether you intend the bequest for a national body, or a local or regional branch, where appropriate. And make clear what you’d like to happen if the charity closes down or merges. Such things happen, especially to smaller outfits.

If you already have a will, and want to make a simple amendment such as adding a charity to donate to, you can use a simple ‘Codicil’ form instead of writing your Will again. Charities should be able to provide one.

Want to write your Will cheaper than using a Solicitor? Use Willdrafters Ltd. A really convenient feature of their service is that they can help you to make your Will simply by using the telephone.  This means that you have the luxury of not leaving the house or office.  How convenient is that!  However, you get to speak to a specialist to advise you about making your Will so all your questions and queries can be answered immediately.  You can call them free if you wish.  The telephone number is on their website at www.Willdrafters.com

The other reasons that I am happy to recommend them include:

* Willdrafters offer you a no-quibble, money back guarantee.  This ensures that making your Will is worry free.
* They can make your Will for you wherever you live in the UK.
* They have advised over 100 000 people.You can sleep at night knowing your Will is legally correct.
* You get advice from one of their advisers by telephone and your Will is written for you without you having to complete any forms yourself.

Go and get your Will written now at www.Willdrafters.com

Click this link now to get your Will made cheaper, quickly and easily