Make a WILL
Almost everyone has some assets, and everyone is going to die sometime. Your life expectancy might be high, but the unexpected can happen - today, tomorrow, whenever.
It is important to make a will, because it allows you to:
- Choose how to dispose of your assets. If you die without a will, there are rules that dictate how your assets are distributed. This may not be in the way you would wish.
- Inherit from an unmarried partner. Unmarried couples (same sex or not) cannot inherit from each other without a will.
- Make arrangements for your children. Couples with children under 18 may want to consider arrangements for their children if either or both die.
- Minimise tax payments. It may be possible to save inheritance tax.
It is your most recent will that determines what happens. So if your circumstances change, for example if you separate from your partner or you hit the jackpot in the lottery, then you should make a new will.
Why not include a charitable bequest in your will?
...leave something to charity
Take Action
Go and write your will today.
There are many do-it-yourself guides and online will-writing services. Type 'make a will' into Google, and see what comes up.
Include a charitable bequest in your will. Think about how much you would like to give and what you would like to support. Remember that a small bequest to a large charity will be almost unnoticed, but the same money could support really interesting work by a smaller organisation.
Remember that the charity will get nothing until you die. But the gift will cost you absolutely nothing and it may save tax when you die. So be generous!
Find Out More
Type 'make a will' into Google, and see what comes up.
Take the Make-a-Will quiz at: moneycentral.msn.com/retire/home.asp
Charitable bequests
There are all sorts of ways of leaving money to charity.
You can give a specified sum of money or a proportion of your wealth or even what's left after all other bequests have been made (this is called the residue of your estate).
This give the money as a simple charitable gift. Or you might wish to establish a fund for a specific purpose, which will continue to operate for many years (for example, a bursary fund to provide books, uniforms and school fees to a child in the developing world).
Or you might like to create some sort of memorial - such as paying for the planting of a grove of trees or for a museum to purchase of an item for its collection.
Find a charity that you would like to support, and then discuss with them some options for your bequest.
Living Wills
A Living Will sets out how you would like to be treated as you near death, when you are no longer able to make decisions for yourself.
It covers such things as the degree of medical intervention, pain management, feeding that should be administered, and where you would like to die. This can take the burden of decision away from your family.
A Living Will is an expression of wishes, rather than a legally enforceable instruction.
To find out more about Living Wills, read The Natural Death Handbook, or download an older version from: www.globalideasbank.org/natdeath/ndh0.html
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