Legacy

Legacies are written years before they take effect, which creates a specific problem: the charity named in the will may no longer exist by the time the will does. Mergers and closures both trigger it.

Registering a merger on the Charity Commission’s Register of Mergers is what preserves legacies left to the pre-merger charity. An unregistered merger can mean a gift to the old charity fails. The protection is real but it is not unlimited, and there is case law on gifts that failed despite registration.

If you are merging, register it — see executing a merger. If you accept legacies, note that a will leaving 10% or more of the net estate to charity can reduce the estate’s inheritance tax rate, which is worth telling supporters about: donor-side reliefs.