Leaving a Legacy

Many people support charities during their lifetime. A legacy to a registered charity is free from Inheritance Tax. It usually reduces your Inheritance Tax liability, because any legacies to charities are deducted from the value of your estate prior to taxation. By leaving a gift to the St Stephen's AIDS Trust you will enable the work of the charity to continue after your death; perhaps in the purchase of diagnostic and surgical equipment, research or informing patients of choice of treatment.

You could leave a specific bequest of an item or items, a pecuniary bequest of a sum of money or a residuary bequest which can be the remainder (or a proportion of the remainder) of your estate after other gifts and debts have been honoured. Should you wish to include the St Stephen's AIDS Trust in your Will, you will need to use certain legal wording, as below.

It is possible to change your Will at any time. If you have already made a Will and would like to include a bequest to the St Stephen's AIDS Trust, you can simply add a codicil to your Will.

All bequests to charities are exempt from inheritance tax and capital gains tax. So the benefits may be well worth considering where tax-planning is important for you.

Suggested Wording: Residuary Legacy: I leave to St Stephen's AIDS Trust of 369 Fulham Road, London SW10 9NH Charity Registration Number: 1002285 £xxxx.xx for its general purposes and I direct that the receipt of the Treasurer or other duly authorised officer shall be a sufficient discharge to my Executors.

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