Leave A Legacy

Imagine a world where all women are free to express their opinions at home and in public life, where all children can go to school, and where women no longer face violence to keep them ‘in their place’. By remembering WOMANKIND Worldwide in your Will, you can help achieve this, a little bit at a time.

Do other people remember WOMANKIND in their Wills?

Over the years, many women and men have left a legacy to WOMANKIND Worldwide. Some are modest. Some are substantial. Each one has been put to work to help improve women’s lives in practical ways.

In many cases, people have let us know in advance that they have put a gift in their Wills to WOMANKIND. This helps us think ahead, and means we get a chance to say thank you in person!

A gift in your Will to a charity is tax efficient

If your estate is currently worth more than £300,000 it may attract inheritance tax. That means, 40% tax being payable on anything over that threshold. The good news is that a gift to WOMANKIND can be given out of your estate tax free, so it can help you too. Please speak to your solicitor for guidance.

What if I don’t have a Will?

If you haven’t made a Will yet, deciding to leave something to WOMANKIND is a good reason for going to see a solicitor.

Without a Will, your estate will simply be distributed according to the law, which cannot take into account wishes you may have expressed verbally during your lifetime. If you want a partner to whom you are not married to benefit from your estate, or if you want to say who you would like to care for any children should you die before they reach 18, this can be done by making a Will. Making a Will also enables you to get a feel for whether your estate is likely to attract inheritance tax, and to make plans for reducing the amount payable if you wish.

What if I already have a Will?

Adding a gift to WOMANKIND Worldwide to an existing Will is easy. Your solicitor will write a ‘codicil’ for you, which you simply keep with your Will, though you mustn’t attach it physically to it.

What kind of legacy is most useful to WOMANKIND Worldwide?
You can arrange your gift in different ways:

a pecuniary legacy means a gift of a specific sum of money or item
a residuary legacy means leaving all or a proportion of whatever remains of your estate after all other gifts, debts and liabilities have been paid out
a reversionary legacy means leaving to WOMANKIND something that you would like someone else to have use of for their lifetime – for example, a house, money invested in a trust, or even stocks and shares.

Leaving WOMANKIND a percentage of your estate protects your gift from being nibbled away by inflation, as a gift of a specific sum of money might be.

Wording for a residuary legacy to help your solicitor

'Subject to the payment of my debts, funeral and testamentary expenses, I give the whole/___% of my estate not otherwise disposed of by this my Will to WOMANKIND Worldwide (Registered Charity Number: 328206) of Development House, 56-64 Leonard Street, London EC2A 4LT, for the general purposes of WOMANKIND Worldwide. I further direct that the receipt of the Executive Director or other proper officer of WOMANKIND Worldwide for the time being shall be a full and sufficient discharge of the said legacy.’

Wording for a pecuniary legacy to help your solicitor

‘I give free of tax to WOMANKIND Worldwide (Registered Charity Number: 328206) of Development House, 56-64 Leonard Street, London EC2A 4LT, for the general purposes of WOMANKIND Worldwide. I further direct that the receipt of the Executive Director or other proper officer of WOMANKIND Worldwide for the time being shall be a full and sufficient discharge of the said legacy.’

Organising a reversionary legacy

If you would like someone you care about to benefit from your assets during their lifetime, and then for the gift to pass to WOMANKIND, please speak to your solicitor. He or she will be able to guide you through the options available to you.