Making a Will gives you full control over your money and assets to ensure they go to the people and causes you care about most. If you die intestate (without making a Will), the laws of intestacy will decide how your estate is divided up, which will not take your intentions into account. Your estate will not necessarily pass automatically to your spouse in all cases, depending on its value and whether you have children or other relatives. In some circumstances your assets might even pass to the government.
Once you have provided for your family and friends you may wish to consider expressing your support for Kiwoko Hospital by leaving a legacy. Legacies can become a vital source of funds for the Hospital: if we know that a certain number of people have left bequests, the hospital can plan accordingly, in the knowledge that a stream of legacy income will become available in time. Read also http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/individuals/giving/will.htm.
Making your legacy to Kiwoko Hospital
If you do leave a legacy to Kiwoko Hospital through the charity ‘Friends of Kiwoko Hospital’, then we will follow instructions in your Will to ensure that your wishes are met. You may wish to consider:
- A general purposes legacy – gifts left for the Hospital’s general purposes are particularly valuable as they allow the Hospital to respond according to its most pressing priorities.
- A specific purpose legacy – you may wish to support a particular area of work of the hospital (eg. community based health care, HIV/AIDs counselling, mother and child health, the Good Samaritan Fund) by leaving a specific purpose legacy.
Types of legacies
It would be your decision what type of legacy you wish to leave to Kiwoko Hospital and donors can leave anything within their estate. All gifts, large and small, are welcome.
The most common types of legacy are:
- Residuary gift – you can leave a percentage of your estate after other gifts and charges have been met, including taxes and expenses. This is possibly the most effective way to leave a gift because its value will not be eroded by inflation.
- Specific or non–money gift – you can leave a personal possession, for example, property, jewellery, works of art, stocks and shares or other valuables.
- Pecuniary gift – you can leave a fixed sum of money.
- Remainder gift – you can leave your assets to a chosen beneficiary for them to enjoy during their lifetime with the whole or part of them passing to Kiwoko Hospital upon their death.
Can I change an existing will to leave a legacy
Yes. You can update or change your Will at any time. We recommend that you obtain the professional advice of a solicitor when making your Will. Your solicitor can advise you on the best way to update your Will either by re–writing it or amending it through a codicil. This can be done relatively inexpensively.
You may wish to review your Will as a matter of course if your wishes or circumstances change, for example, if you get married, have children, move house or if someone mentioned in your Will dies. Updating your Will periodically ensures that it continues to reflect your wishes accurately and will give you peace of mind.
What are the tax implications of leaving a legacy?
Estates above a certain value are subject to Inheritance Tax on their net value (that is, the amount remaining after debts and other charges have been met and legacies to tax–exempt beneficiaries such as Kiwoko Hospital have been deducted). You can reduce the tax liability on your estate by making a legacy. We recommend that you consult the Inland Revenue, your solicitor or accountant when considering possible ways of minimising the tax burden on your estate.
Legacies left to Kiwoko Hospital are donated through Friends of Kiwoko Hospital, which is granted charitable status for tax purposes by the Inland Revenue (reference number XN77395) so any gifts made to it either during your lifetime or on your death are exempt from tax.
To find out more
We appreciate that leaving a legacy is a very personal matter and your family and friends should be considered first. However, we do hope that it is still possible for you to include Kiwoko Hospital in some form in your Will.
You can contact us for more information on what your legacy could do for the Kiwoko Hospital by completing the form attached. You can also contact us to discuss any queries you may have or to let us know if you have already included Kiwoko Hospital in your Will.
You can contact us for further details on legacies, development fundraising and other ways in which you can help Kiwoko Hospital continue to be successful.
If you are interested in leaving a legacy to Kiwoko Hospital, please fill out this form and send it by post to:
Mr Kenneth Finch,
Friends of Kiwoko Hospital
3 Greenvale,
Dunmurry,
Northern Ireland
BT17 9LR
or by email to: feedback@fokh.org.uk.
All correspondence will be treated as confidential.
