EMBRACE LEGACIES

Legacy gifts are donations of assets (e.g. property or shares) or money left to charity in your will. Your estate is everything you own at death, including property, cash, shares, jewellery, works of art, life insurance and pension payouts.

You can leave a part of your estate (called a residual gift), which is a percentage of the value of your estate, after all other bequests and costs have been deducted. You could also leave a pecuniary gift, which is a specific sum of money.

Any legacy gift is grateful accepted, it does not have to be a large amount and all gifts will be used to help change lives in the Middle East. We have had legacy gifts ranging from £100 up to hundreds of thousands – and we are grateful for each one, as we partner together in this important work.

We request that supporters do not restrict their legacy gift, so we can ensure that your gift goes to those who need it most.

If you have a specific area of interest (country or work focus) that you’d like your gift to go to, please contact us to discuss your intentions.

We’ll always try and accommodate people’s wishes, but sometimes leaving a gift to a specific project or country can cause difficulties, especially if the project has finished by the time the gift is received. If the gift is too specific, the gift to Embrace may fail.

For example, if you have asked for your gift to go to a particular partner but we are no longer supporting that project (which may be the case by the time the gift is received), the gift could fail as we couldn’t accept it as we wouldn’t be able to use the money for anything else.

A will is one of the most important documents you’ll write. It gives you the opportunity to clearly state what you would like to happen to your belongings and name the people and causes you want to benefit.

Not having a proper will can result in ‘intestacy’, meaning the estate is divided according to certain rules set out in law. Dependants not formally recognised as family (such as an unmarried partner or step-children) do not have automatic rights under these laws.

Not having a clear will can cause confusion and upset for those left behind, at an already difficult time. This can be avoided by having a will written with a professional to ensure that all eventualities are covered.

We strongly recommend you use a professional will writer to write your will.

A solicitor will prepare a draft of your will and ask you to ensure that it reflects your wishes. When you are happy with the content, a final version will be produced. To ensure it is valid your will must be signed and dated, which means it must be done in front of two witnesses who must not be beneficiaries, executors, or their spouses. The witness must then sign it in front of you, and each other. Your solicitor should keep the original will and you should keep a copy for reference purposes. Your executor(s) should know where the original is located.

For minor changes, a codicil supplements the terms of an existing will, either by adding, amending or revoking part of it. The codicil will be witnessed and signed in the same way as a will and will be executed in exactly the same way as the rest of your will. It is wise to involve a solicitor when adding a codicil to your will.