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?

We had the same.

it is immoral and was deeply upsetting.

Shocked so many people saying charities are brutal with legacies etc. I work for a charity in the finance team and I can assure you this could not be further from the case now or in anywhere I have worked previously either (all independent, local charities rather than the nationals). It is helpful for a charity to know a legacy is coming, but to force through sales etc is deeply unethical. Our development team have targets for securing legacies (being part of wills), but in terms of the legacies actually coming in we consider it basically 'out of our hands' - we might ask for an update so we can plan financial year budgeting, but it's not part of a 'target' so there is no pressure on the executor, or on our team to force it through. The target is on the securing in the first place.

You need to make sure a charity really aligns with your values, but the idea that money just going on wages, marketing etc is wrong... they're the ones carrying out the work and getting the message out. People don't like to give money to eg Trussell Trust and want to just give food. But the charity advocates right to the heart of government on behalf of its users, giving them a voice they'd otherwise never get. They need high quality specialists for this and they pay for that specialism. Still way under commercial rates. To an outsider it looks like they spend it 'on themselves' - but they are all aligned with the charity mission.

I think a lot of people think charity=voluntary. It's not like that, but it is worth remembering is it ALWAYS not for profit.

[edit just to correct sticky key typos]

Leave it to any of your blood relatives, please, oh please.

Absolutely.

£10k down the line won't even buy that, I suspect.

Animal charities also get 7-10X as much as 'human' or environmental charities. Funny that. Suspect most of the money gets spent on the 'people' running them via inflated salaries and trips.

Really? Seems unlikely. 10x more than Cancer Research or the BHF?

I’m no fan of animal charities but I suspect they’re a smaller part of the charity market than charities for the interests of people. Doesn’t mean we shouldn’t ban animal charity status, but that’s a different issue.

He may also have to prove that he tried to sell your used knickers and old saucepans rather than just binning them or giving them to charity. As executor he has to try and get a value for every item for the charity.

I would like to think so. But when I have looked at in the past animal charities where much more popular and richer than others. I love animals but I won't give to any animal charity when there are children having no more than one meal a day or less this summer holiday :(

Dogs trust are deemed to be one of the more corrupt charities in ROI? Or am I thinking of another charity 🫣

Main risk is that it’ll just get torn up and the family will get the lot one way or another.

They subscribe to a probate scanning service such as Smee & Ford @Hakunatomato

Honestly, leaving a % to a charity is a disaster.

my godparents did that and my mum and dad were the executors. The pressure that charities cause is horrendous.

for example, the charity was left 50% of the estate. We had to have every single item valued that was in the house and we had to try and sell all belongings for the perceived value because the charities expected it (try selling second hand furniture in FB for more than £30…it’s essentially impossible).

the estate agent tried to price their bungalow at £600k which we always said was ridiculous (their argument was it could interest developers). It then got reduced to £500k which was reasonable for where it was, and ended up selling for £490. We had to have the EA write a letter, certified by the solicitor, explaining why we accepted such a low offer compared to the initial price else the charities could come in the day before exchange and refuse to let the sale proceed.

my god father also left the blue cross £50k in his will and asked them to take care of his dog. They took the money but refused to take the dog. We had months of stress trying to re home her ourselves.

I would never ever leave money to a charity after seeing what a nightmare it is,

Why would they? If you are worth a million, giving say £10,000 to a charity won't mean your family may end up with nothing.
You give what you estimate you can afford to give.

Wow this thread is an eye opener. I had intended to leave some money to charity in my will but will rethink.

I was going to do the free will writing service that the lifeboat charity do, but there was only an option to leave a percentage. And I think the minimum was 10%, so I backtracked at that point.

Simple search...

In the UK, animal charities receive more donations than people charities overall, but less than religious organizations:

Animal charities
In 2021, animal charities received 58% of UK charitable donations, or £6.5 billion, while other charities received £4.8 billion. In the first six months of 2022, the average monthly donation to animal welfare charities was £20.52, up from £12.23 in 2016. In 2021, an estimated 15 million people donated to animal charities, which is more than a quarter of the UK's population.

And 2022 story...

https://hrnews.co.uk/britons-donate-1-7-billion-a-year-more-to-animal-related-charities-than-they-do-people-related-charities/

Just my personal opinion but I think that even having “targets to secure legacies” is massively unethical.

And whilst I definitely appreciate that there is a world of difference between the running costs for a small operation and the corporate giants I absolutely think that the money spent on running big charities is hugely wasteful.

And charities are brutally fierce and pursuing any monies they believe they are 'entitled' to, no matter the harm they cause families by all accounts. Many on here confirm this.

I've done a little legacy fundraising work in the past and don't recognise any of the experiences here. It was a small charity that had transformative gifts every so often through legacies. It's clearly important (as shown by the stories here) to word a bequest carefully, but I'd hate people reading this to think all charities would act in this way.
OP, your intention to leave money to a hospice really chimes with me. After their care to my DM recently, I am very much aware of the fragility of their funding, and the impact they have on people's lives when they most need it.

I have to say I can’t understand people who leave such huge sums to charity unless their family are already exceptionally well off, sure leave a couple of grand to charity but I couldn’t give a million away when I’ve got a niece and nephew.

Thank you.

I haven’t clicked the links and am happy to take the point at face value.

TBH all that does is make me think all the more that charity status for animal welfare should be binned quickety-quick. It’s absolutely disgraceful that we give financial perks for outfits looking after stray dogs.

Following on from my previous post, when my DGM’s estate was finally settled, my poor DM had to put up with other charities begging telephone calls. Unfortunately, my DM’s telephone number was in the directory. I had to buy her an answerphone so she could screen her calls. A famous children’s hospital in London springs to mind. They made my DM cry with their tales of dying children. Despicable behaviour. I have now stopped giving to “big” charities.

You are best to name a solicitor and not BIL if you are giving large amounts to charities for all the reasons above, you can still give BIL an amount like the DNs. The solicitor will have to deal with it then and will take payment out of the estate

Most of the problems with charities mentioned here are badly drafted wills or probably executors not keeping them informed. People who work in charities are human but they are discharging a legal responsibility and they need to follow the letter of it. Generally I’d suggest you leave a percentage to the family members 10k might not do much in 30 years time.

Completely get hospice funding, but frankly it shouldn't be left to charities. It should be covered from taxation and be part of the NHS. Money would be saved in the end by moving end of life patients from hospital wards to hospices, and by providing palliative and respite care in the phases leading to that.

Disagree. Charities are bureaucratic just like other organisations. When it comes to enforcing legacies, they take no prisoners, it's there best source of income, and the people in enforcement assume that the families are hiding things from them. They are aggressive in their pursuit of this income as many posters have attested.

They search through the public probate records. It's all a matter of public/open viewing once you're dead and probate is applied for.