two questions about leaving money to friends

eddyinfreehold

QUOTE:


Also be careful leaving money to charities they have a very bad reputation for using the % clause asa way of interfering with the distribution and for example not allowing relatives to keep minor keepsakes but insisting they are valued and paid for so as to ensure they get the maximum. This is more in the case where they get a larger share but why take the chance, definitely ringfence any amount left to a charity, eg "1/3 of the remainder to a maximum of £1000"



UNQUOTE


The above advice is good. I would add 'never leave a percentage or fraction' (as these are effectively the same thing) of an estate to a charity or charities, always leave a fixed sum. A lot of charities will go to the ends of the earth to get their own valuations of an estate (at cost to the estate). Ultimately this is time consuming and expensive. There are quite a few charities out there advertising on the telly that you might want to leave x% to them. Don't do it. Leave them a set amount.

Mojisola

goodjudge wrote: »

I also would like to give £1,000 each to 'Bob', 'Jane' and a charity. But if the worst happens and my estate plunges in value to £5,000 (or less), as far as I can tell my friends' share is a) still guaranteed, b) is paid out before my family's, and c) they'll get more than my family. Much as I like my friends, I don't want that to happen.

eddyinfreehold wrote: »

The above advice is good. I would add 'never leave a percentage or fraction' (as these are effectively the same thing) of an estate to a charity or charities, always leave a fixed sum. A lot of charities will go to the ends of the earth to get their own valuations of an estate (at cost to the estate). Ultimately this is time consuming and expensive. There are quite a few charities out there advertising on the telly that you might want to leave x% to them. Don't do it. Leave them a set amount.

We discussed leaving a percentage to charities to avoid the problem in the OP - our solicitor said the same as eddy - he'd had some bad experiences when charities were left percentages as everything about the estate was queried with the aim being to increase the charity's share.

We have left set amounts in our current but at our next review may change that.

I am considering leaving the charities out of the will but asking our children to consider making a donation after they receive their inheritance if they can.

Dox

Answering point 1 from a practical standpoint, give as much information as you can about the potential beneficiaries: full name, address at the time you made your will, DOB and if you know them, current e-mail and mobile numbers. State in your will that these details were correct at the time the will was drawn up - the name and DOB should be enough to act as identifiers, but the other information may well help the executors track down any beneficiaries who've gone AWOL.