A Legacy Guide – Helping to secure the future of Windsor Festival (a registered charity)
Introduction
Windsor Festival (a registered charity) is renowned for programming excellent cultural, entertaining and varied international quality events and to do so becomes more expensive year by year. The Festival’saudiences have enjoyed such events for over forty years now, and with their support wecan continue to enjoy the Festival well into the future. Supporting ourwork with a legacy is one of the best possible ways you can becomeinvolved enduringly with the Festival. Legacies to charities, such as Windsor Festival, are free of tax and therefore especially effective and may reducetax liability on the giver’s estate.
Your legacy could be used to support:-
- a bursary award for the education programme
- a memorial concert
- a concert series
- a literary event
- commissioning of a new event in a subject linked to your interests
- a lecture series
We do not expect anyone to support us at the expense of their family. Allwe ask is that you consider setting aside a percentage of your estatefor the Windsor Festival.
What your legacy can do for Windsor Festival
The main benefit of giving a legacy to Windsor Festival is theknowledge that you would continue to be playing an important part in ensuring thecontinuation of a high quality Festival for the benefit of our children andgrandchildren. Legacies can be used to create platforms for tomorrow’sauthors and musicians, helping them to advance their skills.They can be used in support of concerts, readings, literary events and all theother activities provided by Windsor Festival. This support includesthe massive amount of preparation that takes place behind the scenes ofevery Festival, enabling Windsor to present world class literary and musical events.
Your legacy would be used to support:-
- a bursary award for the education programme
- a memorial concert
- a concert series
- a literary event
- commissioning of a new event in a subject linked to your interests
- a lecture series
If you have a special interest in any aspect the Festival, please let theFestival Director know, so that we can make sure your legacy is used exactlyas you would wish. For example, naming a concert is a possibility.
All legacy giving is of great value to Windsor Festival as a registered charity. Each legacy is very gratefully receivedand will be acknowledged asrequested. A legacy to Windsor Festival is a gift which will never be forgotten.
Types of Legacy
There are a number of ways to leave a legacy, the suitability of eachdepending on your personal circumstances. Therefore we recommend thatyou consult a solicitor to ascertain which is best for youespecially if you intend to leave a residuary legacy as there are important tax considerations. Below is a briefdescription of the main ways of leaving a charitable legacy. The mostpopular are the first two, in particular the first one. Wehave also added the wording for a codicil below.
THESE CLAUSES SHOULD NOT BE USED BEFORE CONSIDERING WITH YOUR SOLICITOR THE INHERITANCE TAX IMPLICATIONS.
a)A Percentage of the Estate (Residuary Legacy)
Leaving a legacy as a percentage allows it to maintain its valueover the years; therefore it does not need frequent revision.We set out below the suggested wording for including a share of your estate in your will
‘I give free of any tax or duty payable upon or by reason of my death all (or a ....% share of) the residue of my estate to the Windsor Festival (registered charity number: 258888) Beaumont House, 28 Beaumont Road, Windsor, Berkshire, SL4 1JP, for its general charitable purposes and I direct that the receipt of the treasurer or duly authorised officer shall be a valid receipt and appropriate form of discharge.’
b) Set sum of money (Pecuniary Legacy)
Leaving a set sum of money is simple. However, it must beremembered that money may lose value over time and a set sum maybe worth very much less than intended by the time it is given toWindsor Festival. This can be overcome by index-linking thesum, or leaving it as a residuary legacy.The suggested wording for a pecuniary legacy is as follows:-
‘I give free of any tax or duty payable upon or by reason of my death the sum of £...... (...... pounds) to the Windsor Festival (registered charity number: 258888) Beaumont House, 28 Beaumont Road, Windsor, Berkshire, SL4 1JP, for its general charitable purposes and I direct that the receipt of the treasurer or duly authorised officer shall be a valid receipt and appropriate form of discharge.’
C) A Specific Legacy
This allows you to leave a valuable possession to Windsor Festival.The suggested wording for a specific legacy is as follows:-
‘I give free of any tax or duty payable upon or by reason of my death my...... to the Windsor Festival ( registered charity number: 258888) Beaumont House, 28 Beaumont Road, Windsor, Berkshire, SL4 1JP, for its general charitable purposes and I direct that the receipt of the treasurer or duly authorised officer shall be a valid receipt and appropriate form of discharge.’
d) A Codicil
A codicil is a simple way to make specific changes or alterations to your will while leaving the remaining provisions untouched.
‘I (name) of (address) declare this to be my first codicil to my last will dated (date). I give free of any tax or duty payable upon or by reason of my death (details of legacy or details of share of residue) to the Windsor Festival ( registered charity number: 258888) Beaumont House, 28 Beaumont Road, Windsor, Berkshire, SL4 1JP, for its general charitable purposes and I direct that the receipt of the treasurer or duly authorised officer shall be a valid receipt and appropriate form of discharge. in all other respects I confirm my will. ‘
Your solicitor will be pleased to offer advice on these and other ways ofleaving a legacy.
How to go about it
If you have a will already, and wish to add to it, just take it to yoursolicitor where legacies can be added by simple codicil. If you do not havea will at the moment, it is easy and simple to make one. You can gostraight to a solicitor to make a will or, should you wish to learn moreabout the process before visiting them, there are a number of books andwebsites that can give you advice, and help you to find a specialist will- writing solicitor in your area. They include:-
- The Law Society
- Solicitors for the Elderly
- Solicitors online
- Institute of Professional Willwriters
- Patrick Wise — The Legacy Man
- Ms Abi Lewis of Charles Coleman LLP, Solicitors, Windsor. She can be contacted on 01753 861115 or via the website
Reply Form
We realise that this can be a very private matter and you may wish tohave no further contact with us. However, if you would like to tell us ofyour plans it would be very helpful. Information of this nature will assistWindsor Festival’s long term planning. Any information you do give willbe treated in the strictest confidence.
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Please tick the relevant box(es)
I have already made provision for Windsor Festival in my Will
I intend to make a bequest to Windsor Festival
I would like to discuss my bequest with you, please contact me
Name ………………………………………………………………………………………………
Address………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Telephone number………………………………………………………………………………
Email address……………………………………………………………………………………..
Please return the form to:
Martin Denny, Festival Director, Windsor Festival, 11 High Street,
Windsor SL4 1LD