Writing our will - which charity

[whichcharity]

NC for this post.

We are very fortunate and have a large estate, we are in our 50s and both work and are rewriting our wills.

We have two children who will be left the majority of our estate when we die (we do not have other family or close friends)

Our children are likely to be come very wealthy when we die. We want to ensure that they get some of our estate but a large proportion we would like to leave to charity, and should the unthinkable happen and we all die, the majority to charity.

We will discuss this with our children (currently at university) and we believe they will support this decision as they, like us, would want to work and not be left sums of money which would mean they would never have to work again.

Obviously we will revisit our wills as time goes on etc.

We already have some local charities that we support but the sums involved are likely to be considerable, we will leave money to the charities we know and support but we would like to add in some larger charities.

We are currently thinking Children in Need and medicine sans frontieres.

Does anyone have any knowledge about how we can actually find out how effective charities are, or charities similar to these where we know our donations will be put to good use.

please no judgement about this, we do already support many charities and we have not inherited this wealth but built it up ourselves (and on reflection perhaps should have spent less time working and more time living)

Thank you for any help specific to effectiveness of charities.

Can’t you spend the time living now? You are only in your 50s.

I suspect your children would not rather you give it to charity whatever you think. They can’t be very old so are starting out in life. They may also have kids and you could make the lives of your grandchildren easier too. But it’s your money to do with as you please. If you want to give it to charity would you not prefer to do that now whilst you’re alive snd can see it doing some good?

personally I would look for small local charities and give gifts now whilst you can see the impact it has.

Personally I would do some research into how leaving money to both charities and family can go very wrong with charities using specialised aggressive lawyers to rush family members through probate or sell off personal items for the charities benefit.
We have left everything to our daughter who in turn knows she can make a deed of variation to benefit preferred charities.

Look at their accounts and how much these charities have in reserve. Think children in need have nearly £100 MILLION which is a stupid amount of money to be sitting on. But why not make payments to charities now, or local organisations. Could you set up a fund with a school to help pay for uniform or shows for struggling kids? Is there a low income school where you could pay boards school trips and reduce parental costs? Making a difference now would be nice too, but recognise the IHT offset.

I personally would leave money to DC and tell them which charities you want them to give money to. In a clients case where I worked (Accountant) the said charity was very aggressive in their dealings with the Executors of the Estate, to get the money paid to them quickly, it wasn’t pleasant and certainly put me off.

I have money going to our local hospice, a wildlife rescue and a dog rescue. Personally, I would rather it go to smaller charities that will use the money locally and not sit on it.

I would keep it local. Big charities have bigger admin structures so a lot of money just goes in the pockets of management and 'volunteers' rather than the end cause. We have a small local independent children's 2nd hand shop near us where you take all your outgrown toys and clothes. I'd be more tempted to leave them money rather than a big cooperation charity such as children in need.

I’d probably be more inclined to support smaller local ones.

Look up charities on the Charity Commission register (England & Wales) or similar to check legitimacy.
Smaller charities often have a bigger impact per £1 because they are closer to the ground or perhaps take legal advice.

OP you are only fifty- I hope you are both retired now and plan to enjoy yourselves for at least a good twenty years! Treat yourselves.

I would leave it to my children.

Who knows what the future holds for them. If I could give them the gift of not having to work I absolutely would.

Leave it all to your kids with the expectation that they should make a donation to a charity of your choice.

Look at the horror stories of aggressive charities interfering in the winding up of the estate.

"Personally I would do some research into how leaving money to both charities and family can go very wrong with charities using specialised aggressive lawyers to rush family members through probate or sell off personal items for the charities benefit."

Absolutely this, they can be ruthless.

The worst case of fraud I saw was due to people leaving a percentage of their estate to a charity in their will. The solicitor was taking 20% as specified by the donor, but giving 10% to the charity. Nobody was any the wiser. If you want to leave a gift, specify an exact amount and appoint a trusted executor.
Make some gifts now.
I wouldn't give Children in Need any of my money. They give it to some awful organisations.
I don't have much in the way of spare money, but I always donate to Crisis at Christmas, Salvation Army, because I know people who have benefited from both of those organisations. I have a friend who is a long time volunteer for
Medecins sans Frontieres, so I donate to them when I can afford it.

Go and visit your preferred charities, talk to the staff, look at their mission statements and accounts. What do they do with their money?

I have volunteered for a couple of quite high profile charities in the past and frankly, was disgusted at the way the people on the boards were lining their own pockets. So I am rather cynical.

I agree with this
If your children have children this money could support future grandchildren
I’d leave a small amount to local charities and the rest to my children.
This would also buy them a house, pay for future education, for them or grandchildren

Some of these charities as people have said like CIN sitting on millions which is mental!

But also book some amazing holidays and experiences for you and your family now. That is a legacy creating memories that will last forever.

My family were affected badly when family member leaving percentage of their estate to us and to several charities. Really aggressive lawyers made selling the house very difficult as the charities’ lawyers wouldn’t accept first few offers. My parents had to deal with all the viewings/ estate agent/ keep garden tidy/ deal with house maintenance in meantime though. No help from charities. with any of that. Made a difficult time more stressful.

Rather than a large charity, could you consider leaving money to a local university to pay for a scholarship? That could be life changing for a disadvantaged person.

You can, or used to be able to, make a request to specify the subject (maybe something close to your heart or interest?) and the type of person, eg care leaver etc.

Depending on the amounts you have available to give, they normally use the interest/dividends so it will continue forever.

I don’t really understand planning to leave substantial estates to charities and having to ask randoms on the internet for advice. Seems crazy.

in 15 years of administering 100s of estates i never came across any of these ‚aggressive charities‘ the previous posters claim are abounding.

anyway, you can look up charities on the charity register. There is info on finances on there but it can be hard to work out what the impact is from that.

often smaller charities rely very heavily on volunteers or the people running them are very underpaid. Bigger charities pay their staff which I personally don’t think is a bad thing. People who work in that sector should still be paid a fair wage (obv that last point is relative).

I think both of the big ones you mention have an undeniable impact.

dont forget that some local groups may not even be registered charities (eg CiC) as the administrative burden for being registered can be huge. We have a local community gardening project. They do lots with MH, Education and provide the food to those in need but aren’t a charity. I personally they they have an amazing impact locally.

This. Some charities are determined to get the maximum value from the bequest - they say they are legally obliged to, but it can be upsetting for the executor, especially if they're a family member. I would set up your will to only leave them a portion that can easily be converted to cash - so savings or investments. Nothing of sentimental value that needs to be sold - charities will press for it to be sold quickly and for maximum return.

There was a recent thread by someone who was an executor and had been contacted by a charity saying they knew a bequest was due to them. Turns out there are "will chasing" firms who search probate/wills on behalf of charities to find out who has left them bequests, then they contact the executors. Don't think charities sit back being delightedly grateful to receive an unexpected bequest - as soon as they know they're due something they're like sharks scenting blood in the water.

There are websites that say they show which charities are the most effective.

Personally if I was lucky to have it I would look at good causes that are less supported. Yougov has a list of the charities already supported.

So for example if you are going to give to a charity related to cancer and don’t have a particular tie (eg family members with one type) consider one of the lass supported and Least survivable - from their website

The Less Survivable Cancers Taskforce represents the ‘less survivable cancers’, lung, liver, brain, oesophageal, pancreatic and stomach, all with a five-year survival rate of less than 20% following decades of underfunding. These six cancers account for over 69,000, and no less than 42% of the cancer deaths in the UK each year.

I would proceed very carefully.

If you believe your children support this for a variety of reasons I think its best you leave it directly to them and advise on distribution / your wishes.

Your children will be dealing with bereavement while being aggressively harassed by these charities (its all smiles upfront but I have seen first hand via my mother how awful and aggressive they can be. My uncle died recently and left 2m to various charities) its been horrendous. She herself is in her 70s.

Separately you may want to take proper advice on setting up a trust for a small portion if you havent already.
I don't know what sums you are leaving but having been on the coal face of unexpected health problems at a young ish age having been healthy all my life I would say you dont know what the future holds.
What is one of your yet to be born GC are severely disabled? What is one of your children cannot work unexpectedly?

I want my children to be independent and productive but I would want provision there and be most annoyed if I had that provision available then reallocated it assuming it wouldnt be needed but it then was.

Its a good problem to have but I would really think it through.

If my financial status allows, I plan to leave some money to my local hospice. They do such great work, but do not receive much, or any funding from government. Usually the demand for services (both inpatient and outpatient) far exceeds what they can afford to provide. I've been put off many 'big name' charities due to the way they mismanage funds and pay ridiculous sums in salaries.

I’d proceed with caution!

Your only 50, you could live another 40 years, god knows what care costs etc will be by then. Your kids are young, you’ve no idea what will happen, accident, illness, bad marriages, disabled grandchildren. Literally anything could happen. You or DH could die yourselves and the survivor remarry. You should be making a “for now” Will and Testament, not a “last” will and testament. So no need to be worrying about charity donations at your age!

As an aside, a person in our village left their house to charity, the surviving family who also live locally were hounded by them, they applied for further houses in the grounds of the house, which wasn't at all popular with the locals. They ended knocking the house down and building a whole development which would have had the old boy turning in his grave. The relatives got the brunt of local peoples anger. It’s was awful for them, and left them all feeling very bitter about the whole thing. No good deed goes unpunished after all!

I am a Conveyancer and I now turn down probate clients that have a charity interest. The charity lawyers are always ruthless and hugely uncaring just wanting things to be wrapped up quickly. The ‘big ones’ hound the relatives to sell as soon as the donor has died. It’s awful. I’ve had too many executors crying at being pushed and pushed by the charity’s to sell before they are ready. No empathy at all.

I think my choice would be to set up a trust for educational or musical grants for people from difficult backgrounds because hopefully staying in and accessing education and music will have a wider ripple effect to benefit others.

RNLI, Womens Aid and Celia Hammond Cats rescue are excellent.

You also need a factor in that you could end up in a care home which could end up costing shed loads of money and then any pot that’s left could be significantly reduced for your own children if you’re leaving a chunk to charities. do you want that to happen?

Exactly this, charities can be despicable in their handling of estates - plus to maximise the IHT exemptions (ie the RNRB) it has to go to direct decesndants.

I would leave the entire estate to your children, equally, make them, not solicitors the executors, and agree with them an ex gratia payment to a charity if you wish, and trust them to carry it out.

With wills, always keep it simple and avoid professional executors as they will take a percentage every time.

Exactly, its awful, they are so aggressive.

My advice is simple, leave it to the children, make them the executors, they can hire a solicitor if they can't cope with the task.