Who to leave money to in will?

Dustybee

Hope this doesn't sound a daft question but I've no idea who to leave my estate to if I die. I know who I don't want to leave it to, (estranged family members, who I've not seen for many many years) which is why I need to make a will. I'm thinking of a few charities but not to the ones where the ceo is earning £100k plus a year, so is there a way of finding out about the smaller charities who actually run the charity as a charity and not a business

Robin9

Go very local - watch out for items in the local press.

Please do not rule out those who operate as a business -   think of the Hospices and the work they do.

A charity must be registered with the charity commission. You can search their website 

 www.gov.uk/government/organisations/charity-commission by area - your local town etc.


The larger ones could execute the will for you, small ones  eg my Church Hall would struggle.

NannaH

Is there anything close to your heart ? you could spread your estate around smaller charities that have low running costs,  easy to find out with a bit of research. 
Or something big like Lumos, the JK Rowling backed charity where all donations are used to help children as she funds the running costs herself. 

I would never give money to charities like RSPCA, British Legion, RAFA, Help for heroes or anyone else with bloated management structures on huge salaries. 

diystarter7

Hi OP
I'm with you 100% not to give to certain people inc family

Re charities, please check them out as some spend a massive amount on administration

Sadly, a lot of charities are abused inc smaller ones. So look out for a well-established smaller one, check them out and if you still like them, visit/speak with them and initially don't tell them re your possible substantial donations and see what they say.

Dustybee

Thanks for the information. I've come across one of the larger ones executing a will and it wasn't a pretty picture. I won't go into it but will say it was the RNLI. My local Hospice will be in the will and happy to get a solicitor to be an executor. I've also seen an executor changing  how the "will" paid out because the deceased left out a couple of family members  and the executor thought that wasn't fair. Will have a look at the charity commission

Brie

If you want to ensure that estranged family members are excluded then I would suggest you do need to get a professionally done will.  Also be sure that there is care about how the charities are allocated money.  Giving a percentage can cause issues as each charity will be obliged to ensure they max the total to get as much as possible.

And think what you want done with the non financial side.  Easy enough for me & him indoors to not be concerned who ends up getting our left over cash but what about my dad's paintings or special things of his mom's?  I'm trying to think through how these things will be dealt with given that we have no children or any relatives living anywhere near to us.  So it's going to have to be dealt with by whatever friends we have at the end or complete strangers.

[Deleted User]

Remember perhaps that even if a charity 'skims' off say 20% of the money donated, for the CEO salaries and etc , that to the persons/ animals who get the remaining  80% , 80% of something is more use than a 100% of nothing.

That said, look for small charities locally where you can see how the money is used. Estranged family members if close enough 'could' still challenge a will, so make certain that you let the solictor know that you definitely do not want them to benefit. 

MikeJXE

If I didn't have grandkids to leave mine to it wouldn't go to charities, too many fat cats dipping in the till. If you look up the richest charities it will shock you, Thousands paid to the ceo, millions in the back and invested. Surely if you give to the needy it should go to the needy not sit in a bank. I would rather give to a local needy home or a pet home. 

KxMx

I'm planning to split what little I leave between my brother and a local cat charity. 
It is a national branded charity, but the branch works locally, is entirely volunteer run and does brilliant work. They get a small amount of funds from national charity but mostly rely on fundraising and donations.
I'm single, no kids, no neices/nephews so I feel the above is my best option. 

Marcon

Dustybee said:

Thanks for the information. I've come across one of the larger ones executing a will and it wasn't a pretty picture. I won't go into it but will say it was the RNLI. My local Hospice will be in the will and happy to get a solicitor to be an executor. I've also seen an executor changing  how the "will" paid out because the deceased left out a couple of family members  and the executor thought that wasn't fair. Will have a look at the charity commission

Was the executor given discretionary powers to do so? If not, open to the original beneficiaries to challenge this 'decision'.

Dustybee said:

Hope this doesn't sound a daft question but I've no idea who to leave my estate to if I die. I know who I don't want to leave it to, (estranged family members, who I've not seen for many many years) which is why I need to make a will. I'm thinking of a few charities but not to the ones where the ceo is earning £100k plus a year, so is there a way of finding out about the smaller charities who actually run the charity as a charity and not a business

The large charities need to offer a salary which is high enough to attract the quality of individual they need to run what is a business. The days of well meaning people who bumble along without the necessary skills, paid a pittance because they should be happy they are 'doing something good', are long gone.

If you're still of the mindset that people should be happy to work for a charity based on little more than a golden glow of satisfaction, then opt for smaller charities - but remember salaries and administrative costs in terms of the charity's income can actually be a higher %age, simply because the small charities don't have the same benefits of scale. There are other factors to take into account, as this article sets out (dates from 2013 but still well worth a read): https://www.theguardian.com/voluntary-sector-network/2013/may/02/good-charities-admin-costs-research

diystarter7

How can one ensure that there will is not overturned if you leave out someone you seriously dislike, EG a member of the family/etc. Recent court cases, high profile ones have dishearted me and I've felt sorry for the persons that left money for others but then it was gifted via court action to someone they certainly did not want to leave a penny to.