If you didn’t have siblings, family your closes to, spouse and kids, who would you leave your inheritance to?

[YouAreNotBatman]

The title.

My husband has an childless Aunt & uncle (mums sister and dads brother). On mums side of the family he is the only family left and the other it’s his (half) sister and him.

We don’t expect anything. (pre) covid they traveled so much! Australia, Vietnam and Mexico just some places - I hope they spend it all on themselves and make themselves happy!!

I would if it was me leave it to spaniel charity and cats protection :)

I'm partly in this situation (minimal family, no partner or children), so my will is 50% to my only sibling and 25% each to my best friends children, whom I am very close to.

I'd split it between a close friend and Cancer Research.

I would put the money on a trust so any of my friends' children/ or even distant relatives can go to university if they wish to.

Friends who have kids probably

i am leaving main estate to 3 charities ,ive no family, with bequests to friends

The dog's trust.

I'm leaving most of my estate to two major elephant rescue non-profits.

I am close to my aunts and uncles but they all have more than enough money, so I will be splitting mine between friends. I need to write my will actually!

Mine will on the whole get spent, i hope. I have no one familial to leave it to. Whats left will go to animal charities and poor friends. Pointless leaving it to the wealthy

We had a lovely neighbour when I was growing up. She was a widowed only child with no living relatives. She left over £500k to 2 big, well known charities. They didn’t even send a rep or flowers to her funeral. My dad was the executor and he just got told where to send the cheques!! Really sad. She didn’t even get a bench or plaque at the charities.

I’d prefer to leave funds to a local personal cause, rather than a big national charity with huge overheads.

Right now I would leave it 50/50 to the Lib Dems and Labour and ask them to spend it on their top target seats against the Tories.

Or if after the next election and a good (IMO) outcome, my local homeless shelter.

I’ve no parents, grandparents, aunts or uncles, siblings, or kids and I’m 50. I hope to spend most of it, but if I got into an accident and died early (and death in service benefits are not to be sniffed at), mine is split between my three godchildren, my cousin’s three, and the final portion split between two hospices that looked after my parents, Refuge, and the local mountain rescue team, which I’ve had the unenviable pleasure of seeing work at first hand.

RNLI.

Lendwithcare (who give loans to entrepreneurs in developing countries).
Or I'd set up a trust to be managed by the local Community Foundation that specifies the money is to be spent on local community causes such as youth clubs, lunch clubs etc.

If I had enough funds I'd probably set up a bursary/scholarship fund for students at college or university for a target group of students of my choice.

Women's Aid

I'm in this very position. My friends have all done well in life so it would be split between my goddaughter and women's charities.

I would leave my home to a friend who has no other way of owning one, and the rest (not much) to other friends who need money. I would not leave money to charity while my own friends were going short.

I just want to point out that if anybody does die without spouse, children, grandchildren, parents, siblings, or nieces and nephews, and doesn't leave a will, everything would go either to more distant relatives or, if there weren't any, to the Treasury. Making a will is not difficult or expensive and worth doing if you'd rather have a say in where your £ will end up.

Also worth mentioning that if you did have none of the above but did have a surviving daughter-in-law or son-in-law or stepchildren you were close to, they would get nothing unless you left them something in a will.

Anyway, to the OP! I really admire the RNLI, who get no government funding at all, and do incredible work saving lives at sea and on major rivers. I'd like to leave them something. The rest of it would probably be divided between my university, a women's refuge and any small charities I'd checked out doing good work in the field of education, working with children and women, health and the environment.

Good idea !
Anything left I'd leave to a kids charity.

I'd probably leave anything to "Give Kids the World", based in Orlando next to Disney and they sort out the "make a wish" style holidays for I'll children who ask to go to Disney World as their wish.

It's one of the better run large charities in terms of percentage of money used for overhead versus money used for the actual cause.

The hospital & hospice which cared for my mother.
My lovely cleaning lady
My university
But I'll try to spend it first!

I'd either spend it on myself or I would be like the secret millionaire, go and volunteer somewhere, find a worthy person and leave it to them as a surprise.

5-10% to 4 friends’ children. ~15% local animal sanctuary to get new cat shelters. ~20% between 2 local charities. 5% to work to do up the staff area -it’s dire!. The rest split between 2 specific national charities. Think I need to put that in a will!

Most of it would go to friends. A part.of it would go to a local charity who helps children in care reach their potential.