Wills and Legacies

A Will is one of the simplest ways to safeguard the future of your family and friends, and gives you a wonderful opportunity to remember your favourite charities. It is the best way of ensuring that your wishes are followed and can help reduce the worry to your loved ones at what is already a stressful time.

Not having a Will means that you will die intestate and your estate will then be shared out according to statutory rules. If this happens, your loved ones may not benefit in the way you want and the charities you support are unlikely to benefit at all. Whatever your age and circumstances, it is very important that you have an up-to-date Will which accurately reflects your wishes.

Wills are vital to The Royal British Legion. In fact the Legacies left in Wills are the third highest source of voluntary income that The Royal British Legion receives. In the year 2007 the Legion received £9 million from Legacies, which amounts to approximately one-fifth of the Legion’s annual spend on Welfare Services. So in 2008 one in five of our beneficiaries or approximately 20,000 people were helped solely as a result of a donation given in a Will.

Please consider helping to fund the Legion in years to come by making a donation in your Will. Even though Legacies are so important, many of our supporters do not remember us in their Wills that’s because leaving a bequest to the Legion is not something everyone would think to do.

There are three kinds of donation you can consider leaving in your Will:

	A cash sum – it is worth index-linking such a donation to ensure the amount you leave keeps its value relative to inflation.
	Specific gifts – these are gifts of named items such as shares, jewellery or furniture.
	Residue – this is the remainder of your estate after your debts and expenses have been cleared and any cash sums or specific gifts have been paid. You can nominate people and organisations to receive a share or all of the residue. Leaving a percentage of your estate in this way will also help to reduce the effect of inflation.

If you intend to leave a donation in your Will or you have left a donation in your Will to The Royal British Legion, your name will entered in the Legion's Book of Remembrance as a tribute to your generosity. The Book of Remembrance is on public display in Haig House, 199 Borough High Street, London SE1 1AA. You can notify The Royal British Legion by pledging your donation, a copy of the pledge can be obtained from the contact given below or you can view the pledge by clicking onto the following link Pledge.

The Legion has a simple guide to making or updating your Will, a free copy can be obtained from the contact given below or you can view the guide by clicking onto the following link Will Guide.

For more information on making or updating your Will:
Contact: Telephone: Email: Address:	Jonathan Gocher 020 3207 2259 JGocher@britishlegion.org.uk Haig House 199 Borough High Street London SE1 1AA