Conditions in a will

[Hakunatomato]

DH and I looking to get our wills done. Total estate including house and investments just under a million.

We want to leave around £10k to a niece and nephew, and BIL, who will be appointed executor we will leave £50k in recognition of having to sort out house sale etc. The rest of the estate we want to leave between a local hospice, and the dogs trust.

I have heard of people who have left very large bequests to charity, and once the charity is notified of this, they get quite brutal and put pressure on the executors to force through house sale and finalise things as quickly as possible so they can get their money, which is understandable as charities are cash strapped.

We would like to give BIL time to properly clear the house, distribute small things to people (with very low/value, apart from sentimental) and put the house on the market.

Is there any way we can instruct this to be done with no pressure from the charities and in his own time, say 6 months to a year? Has anybody written this into their will?

I agree with everyone saying donate whilst your alive, and leave the money left in your will to family.

Ok, I am speaking as someone who
has come from a relatively poor background so I will never be left money in a will so I absolutely would never ever take inheritance as expected or a given , but honestly if you have a nearly a million in assets then don’t waste** it on a corporation charity , that money could be a significant help to your relatives.

**I do not think giving money to charity is bad , I think it is a fantastic thing to do , and we all should give to help people and animals in need, but honestly I wouldn’t give large sums like that to big corporate charities because that money isn’t going to help animals it is going to pay someone’s salary, or legal fees or marketing expenses!

You could ask BIL to allocate a certain percentage and give them to local Vets fundraisers , or even donate to peoples animal related crowdfunders.

Yes that's my whole point. If they don't get along the chances are he wouldn't be executor, therefore considering he is their executor they're probably fine. I was responding to someone who said perhaps they don't get along.

Wow... quite shocked by some of these comments. My children would be delighted if someone left them £10,000 each. My parents are leaving their money between their 13 grandchildren and I am an executor. Should I refuse?? I am just thankful they plan to help the next generation. If they need care homes there may not be much left once divided by 13 but sure that will all just appreciated something.

@FriendlyNeighbourhoodAccountant I agree. Quoted the wrong person sorry!

Just in relation to the risk of the numbers not working out - can you make the charity bequest something like "the lower of 10% and 50k"? (Just example numbers)

£10k is a bit of a pittance as a share from a £1m estate. 1%. I have less than half those assets and wouldn't give less than 10% each to a niece and nephew. If they mean that little to you just don't include them at all and instruct a solicitor to act as executor to convey 100% to the charities rather than dumping your BIL with all that stress. It's so disrespectful.

No bother!

For charities say a fixed amount not a % so they don't try to manipulate sales etc.

Maybe have a look at small local charities/ community centres that would all really appreciate smaller donations each. These large corporation charities are brutal and most of the money just goes into fundraising and paying for adverts/ chuggers etc.

Also giving neice and nephew 1% each is fairly mean and scrooge like unless they're awful. Do you not like them?

Please don’t leave that sort of money to big corporate charities like the dogs trust. Find a smaller local charity that helps animals, there will be plenty, where the money actually goes towards the animals. Not just lining people’s pockets.
I also wouldn’t leave money in a will and if I was your brother I would refuse to be executor. My granny left a small amount to a large charity but after care home fees for many years there wasn’t much money left. The charity absolutely hounded my parents and made their lives so much harder. They got their money. My parents got nothing. It isn’t what my granny would have wanted.

I haven’t left anything to charity precisely because I’m concerned about the amount of pressure that could be put on my family.
I give plenty now and also volunteer so I don’t feel bad about it.

That's very different if being divided between family. They're leaving 93% to charity and spliting the rest between family who have all of the admin crap and house clearing to deal with.

£10k is 1% of their estate. It's a very clear snub.

It is a huge mistake to leave a % of an estate to anyone. The potential for bullying/legal harrassment/fraud is significant. Always specify an affordable sum.
I heard (via a friend who is a solicitor) of a solicitor who took advantage of the % donations to give a much smaller amount to the charities and keep the rest for herself. It was a very clever set up and the individual got away with it for years.

I worked for a smaller charity and resigned after a year, I was horrified by it all and it completely changed my perceptions, I see similar in lots of charities now.

Bullying was rife and most of the money went on the senior managers' wages and those of the friends and family they employed.

It was grotesque to be honest, beyond shocking.

You obviously don't like your BIL, niece and nephew as it's a bit insulting ( when you have a million) the amounts you are leaving them, is it so they cannot contest the will?
probably by the time you die, your estate will be worth a lot more so those amounts will look even more insulting, but obviously it's up to you, but if I were them I wouldn't be eager to execute your estate infact I probably would refuse.

My thoughts entirely. The dogs home favoured over relations. Bizarre

Just think how much your money could benefit your relatives?

Is BIL a lot younger than you. It is not fair on someone in their 80s or 90s to have to deal with your estate no matter how willing they are now.

Woman at work nan left some money to the lifeboat charity
they we’re horrendous very pushy loads of very abrupt legal letters very pressured

the first one even states they would Peruse legal action to get the money

there solicitor said it was extremely common

This struck me immediately, too. You are likely to die in your 80s or 90s, as is BIL, and he may by then be unable or unwilling to take on the huge job of administering your estate. Or he die before you. Your solicitors can act as admins for a lot less than £50,000 and they will do a professional job. I would never act as an executor for anyone - it is simply far too much work - and if I found that I had been named as one, I would rescind the position.

Unless your niece and nephew are dreadful people I cannot imagine leaving them such a paltry sum compared to the vast majority of your wealth you are planning on leaving to charity! Is there a particular reason for the will being set up in this way?

While I’ve also posted to say it would be better to leave more to family, as someone who worked in the charity sector for years it really frustrates me when people say charity donations will go to pay salaries ‘instead of helping’. Often paying staff salaries IS how the charity helps! You need people to do the work! Yes there will be costs for things like food and medical care but staff salaries are a perfectly reasonable expense when running a charity.

This is fine as long as you are sure the estate value won’t change drastically. See upthread for examples of this approach going wrong.

Wills aren't sealed. They know. They make it their business to know.

I could write a book on this. What you are proposing is horrendous IMHO. If I were your BIL, I would refuse to be executor. Have you talked to him about this?

Do not leave a %. That is called a mixed residue Will and caused my sibling to have a mental breakdown and unimaginable pain to the rest of us, after my DPs left %s to ten different charities. They were like piranhas, all of them. The Charities bear no tax burden, that was down to us. Every single possession my DPs owned was owned by them when they died.

Never again. I would not burden my DCs with anything like this in our Wills. It nearly broke us as a family. Even reading this thread is bringing it all back.

Don't do it OP.

Before you donate to any charity check how much the board/trustees get and the amount they spend on promoting their charity, In their financial statements I have seen 20 - 30% of their income (in the millions of £) is spent on advertising and commission, just look how many TV adverts you see from RSPCA, Dogs Trust, donkeys, cats, etc etc you see during the afternoon and early evening. These adverts are not cheap.