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.

Do not leave a percentage to charity. Leave specified sums so they can’t hound your children for their cut. Having worked in the charity sector I’d advise you go and visit their headquarters and look at all the expensive cars in the carparks! Or look online at their accounts, the management pay themselves very well!

Why don’t you set up a trust that benefits future generations of your family? Ie a trust to pay for university or other tertiary education?

Don't name any charities in your will but write a letter of wishes for your dc saying you'd like x amount to be left to organisations supporting young people or the homeless.

Your dc will be grieving at the time of your death whilst sorting out your estate and they won't need added pressures from aggressive charity lawyers for your cash at this time.

Another way to deal with this is to open a philanthropic family trust foundation through a solicitor or an organisation like the Prism Gift fund. They can then issue annual grants to various charitable causes annually so a wider range of charities benefit. If you have £££ now then get some legal advice on how to do this in a tax efficient way whilst you're still alive. Setting it up now means you'll have control over how it's run, the executors and the beneficiaries.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6267c429e90e0716982a3250/ContCoerBehavStatGuid_V3-10-04-22.pdf

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6267c429e90e0716982a3250/ContCoerBehavStatGuid_V3-10-04-22.pdf

I’d be furious if my parents left a large chunk of money to a charity. However, if you must, please consider your local hospice or other local, small charities who where your money won’t be spent on “admin”, huge exec salaries and bonuses etc.

Here are the right links:

https://prismthegiftfund.co.uk/

https://www.nptuk.org/family-philanthropy-creating-a-lasting-giving-tradition/

It complicates the will for your DC having to deal with the charities after you die. Charities often employ avaricious/ pedantic lawyers. If I was you, I'd give donations when still alive. It'll make things simpler for your DC.

Conduct careful research on the needs of your local community and make donations towards things they need is another way to deal with this. So for example, paying to replace the leaky community centre roof or an educational bursary for students from low income families.

These things can be done now or through a foundation set up in your name. If you keep the grants solely as project based then you know it's going towards a specific item rather than general expenditure.

I find it rather depressing how many people want to dissuade you from giving money to charity. Fine that they don’t want to give money to charity, but how awful that they seek to dissuade others from doing so. Their values plainly don’t accord with yours.

I also intend to leave money to charity. I have chosen a couple of smaller charities that do great work for victims of domestic abuse, because it is an issue I really care about and because those smaller charities can do so much good with often smaller sums. I love the idea of improving the lives of women and children. I have not left it as a percentage, but a sum because I think that is easier. I may change it to a percentage later, but it would not be a percentage of our overall estate, it would be a percentage of the cash left over after property and various items have been given to who we want them to go to. I have never seen the pushy charities/lawyers some say on here exist, but I suspect my plan would avoid that.

I disagree with leaving the money to children and asking them to then distribute it to charity. It would increase their inheritance tax bill and while I have no problem with tax being paid, it would result in less money overall being available for the charities and my children. And it would add stress and potential confusion onto the children, at a time when they are mourning. Good estate planning should ease a stressful time for family members.

I’d give it now then you can see the benefit it brings. Plan what money you will spend and add some more, if you have loads left then give it now.

My FIL’s lovely friend left some sort of bursary to be used at his local secondary school for musical tuition and instruments as they were both big jazz lovers. FIL was instructed to distribute annually to children who couldn’t otherwise afford this, in consultation with the school, until it ran out. He really enjoyed that. It’s probably only a small fraction of what you’re looking for though.

It does make me depressed when I see posters claim that "admin" costs are a way that charities fritter away donations. I work 3 days a week for just above the NMW for my charity, do you think I should be doing that for free? I know it's only an admin job but it's an essential part of how we operate.

I’d do a smaller local charity too. The ones you’ve mentioned are both already rich.

Have you factored any possible grandchildren in?
I remember reading wills are better left to grandchildren as the children have often bought houses etc where grandchildren might just be setting themselves up for property etc.

I would leave everything you can to DCs. They are set to graduate into the worst job market in history and even if/when they do secure jobs, most salaries do not cover basic living costs.

As others have said, big charities can behave awfully and be very aggressive and grubby. If you feel strongly that you would like to leave money to charity I would leave it to smaller operations who will make best use of it and be genuinely grateful for it, like a local women's refuge or hospice.

Having just been an executor for my dad. Its very gruelling and i agree to leave everything to your children. Let them know you want them to leave some to a charity and let them organise this.

Was this written by AI?

No. The secretary of a charity for who I volunteered used the charity's money to buy herself a huge house. She got away with it because she was blackmailing most of the board.
I have no problem with staff being paid a decent wage.
Huge cars and country houses for executives, not so much.

I like this advice. Give it now.
Heck, that applies to when you disperse to your adult kids, too.

Giving to charity is a heart over head decision, anyway.
I don't know how you define "effective", OP.

Problem with "local charities" is they often run on a shoestring (I have been member of many!!) and aren't efficient at all because they have no resources to make themselves efficient. They have high turnover of volunteers, sometimes, so have poor long-term planning. Of course, your time is far more valuable to them than your money. Very small charities may not file accounts, so have limited scrutiny.

There will be an ATC in your area with a leaky roof, an ancient church with dodgy drains they can't afford to fix, a scout group that badly needs to replace activity equipment, a PTA that would really like to fund nice in-school activities for the kids who don't get to do the 'expensive' trip during Activities week, a lady who fosters high medical needs cats for CPL, a respite care charity that is turning away demand for 100 more care days .. all good causes. Which ones speak to your heart?

As someone who went to university and thought I would be working for a long time I was blindsided with a medical diagnosis which leaves me unable to work, even part time. No one would hire me. Luckily I was in my early 30s so had worked for over a decade and married to an incredibly supportive husband. Never assume health is a given. I have had friends die from cancer and not even reach 40.

Even if your children inherit huge sums of money does not mean they wouldn't work. It gives them options to where to work, they wouldn't be chasing jobs for certain levels of pay.

My late mum left a small sum to a local cancer charity. She must have informed them before she died that was her plan. Within 2 weeks my older brother received a phone call asking how soon they would get the gift.
We hadn't even started probate. They continued to phone every other week. It took 4 months to get probate.
I'm only talking £10k. I know charities need money but this put a sour taste on our lives.

@Finereally no it was written by a human being who works in the charity sector and also has autism so that's probably why you think it was written by AI

You spent too much time working and not living so live now. For now split any money between the kdis cos if you did die any time soon they'd be young and still need a lot of support. If you raised them to want to work, they'll work even with millions in the bank. Or set it up so they only get so much so often.

Then live. They're young enough to still go on holiday with you. Book an amazing one for the Uni holidays and go somewhere you've always dreamt of. Make it an annual tradition to go somewhere new, let them pick somewhere. Use the money to build up memories, to retire early and travel and enjoy what you've worked for. Teach them now that life isn't just about working to make money to save it for someone else to enjoy

One thing others aren’t mentioning is there is also financial benefit to leaving to charity - reduced IHT.

You’re right to consider a charity carefully, and perhaps choose a smaller local charity that will really see the benefit, but I’ve never known this “aggression” others have spoken about

The aggression of the charities is repeatedly mentioned on MN.
One poster had to show she had tried to get the best price for EVERYTHING to give to the charity - for example used saucepans - rather than just give to a charity shop.
Once had to sell a sentimental family item on eBay or whatever as the charity would not let her purchase it from the estate as they wanted the best price.
These were cases where charity was left a defined percentage of the estate.
It was very stressful for the executors.

Personally I would use it to give your kids a head start now. The ratio of jobseekers to vacancies is terrible, especially for grads. Nowadays it can take months and months of dogged job-hunting to get an offer, and being in a position where you have enough of a safety net to volunteer in your target sector/get some professional exams done/do an internship/move to a major city makes all the difference in trying to get into a career you actually want. I appreciate this may be less applicable if your kids are studying something very vocational, but even then, housing and food costs mean that now might be the best time - saves on IHT and means they get the money when they need it most, not in their fifties or sixties.

Lots of assumptions here about charities. Small doesn’t necessarily mean beautiful. Big doesn’t necessarily mean that all the money is hoarded or used on wasteful overheads.
Charities need money for core administration more than any other kind of funding. It’s a nightmare trying to operate without decent IT or with staff stretched over several roles because the charity can’t afford to hire enough people.

My suggestion would be to make a few mid-sized donations now to charities you have an affinity to and build relationships with those charities over a few years with further donations if you like their work.